Skip to main content

Centre for Engineering Education

Learn by doing. A blog dedicated to practical Engineering Education and related topics. Published by a team at Engineering at Sheffield with a spiritual home in Multidisciplinary Engineering Education, based in the Diamond at the University of Sheffield, UK. In the Faculty of Engineering we teach engineering and host the Centre for Engineering Education.

Search This Blog

Showing posts from May, 2026

Posts

From Red Line Week to Engineering Education Scholarship Week: Why Taking Time Out Matters

on May 08, 2026

Academic Development EESW Engineering Education Engineering Education Scholarship Week Higher Education Professional Development Red Line Week Reflection Scholarship teaching practice

+

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

When Scale Changes Everything: Lessons from SEFI 2025

on May 08, 2026

Centre for Engineering Education curriculum design Large Cohort Teaching Project-Based Learning SEFI 2025

+

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

Previous Posts

May 20262
April 20261
March 20263
February 20262
January 20262
December 20253
November 20252
October 20251
September 20252
August 20252

Show more Show less

What's hot

Simulated practicals: not as hard as you may think - unless you get carried away.

When people talk about simulations of labs, they are, these days, often referring to computationally expensive, 3D virtual or augmented reality, graphically rich software. As an engineer of a certain age who started their career in simulating physical systems, for me, simulations can be significantly more numerical than graphical and this has led me to consider if simulated practicals could be altogether more straightforward. Engineering simulations are nothing more than theoretical descriptions of how the world behaves. If you are asking a student to determine the force required to accelerate a 1,500 kg car at 3.5 m/s2, the solution to the problem is essentially a simulation of the real world. While simulations are generally more complex, they are, in essence, just crunching numbers. My interest in simulated teaching practicals started at the beginning of the coronavirus lock-down. One of the easiest methods to translate an existing activity from an in-lab to a remot...

Bridging two worlds: how design-based research can connect engineering problem-solving with educational research

As engineers and scientists venturing into educational research, many face a familiar challenge: how do we apply our systematic, problem-solving mindset to the complex, human-centered world of education? If you've ever felt caught between the quantitative precision of engineering and the qualitative nuances of educational research, you're not alone. Here, Edmund Padget shares his experience bring disciplinary thinking together. I studied physics for my first degree, but when I started teaching, and reflecting on how to do it better, the engagement with educational research often made me feel alienated in my approach to problem-solving, rather than inspired to do educational research myself. It seemed to me (rightly or wrongly!) that most papers fell into one of these two categories: What looked like very complex philosophy/sociology papers - I did enjoy the complexity of them and the theoretical development, but it felt like solving a sudoku when the house was on fire. What l...

Software Tools for Electronic Engineering Remote Practicals

Electronics concepts are some of the hardest to visualise, even in the laboratory; it is hard to see the electrons as they whizz through the wires and even more difficult to "see" the electromotive force! Tools like oscilloscopes and network analysers allow powerful visualisation of electronic effects, but using them proficiently has a steep learning curve. Electronic engineers have long embraced simulation as a design tool. However, it is generally taught as a complementary skill to laboratory training, rather than to actually teach practical experimentation. While access to teaching laboratory spaces is limited, simulation tools can be not only a professional skill, but a valuable method of teaching students to be good experimentalists and designers. Simulations can let us visualise normally unseen effects, and probe circuits in unnatural places, all in complete safety. In the planned practicals programme for EEE modules at the University of Sheffield , we pla...

Follow the CEE blog

Posts

Posts

All Comments

All Comments

Want to contribute?- Author Guidelines

The Centre for Engineering Education Blog - Author Guidelines

Labels

2D vs 3D learning
3D visualisation in engineering
academia
academic adjustments
Academic community
academic conference
Academic Development
Academic Engagement
Academic mentoring
Academic Publications

Show more Show less

Powered by Blogger