A Critical View of Current Trends in Engineering Education

Abstract

Current social, economical, and political realities, both locally and globally, have been forcing certain trends and policies on engineering education. These trends have intrinsic contradictions upon which educators and policy makers need to reflect. However, it appears that little attention is paid to these contradictions and their consequences. The objective here is to draw the attention of concerned individuals to this situation. For that purpose, this paper critically discusses, through examples, some of the current engineering education trends and policies that gained notoriety, not only in Canada, but in other countries as well