Engineering Education Research Unit

The Waikato Engineering Education Research Unit has the objective of improving learning outcomes for engineering students. It carries out collaborative research into teaching and learning at the Faculty of Science & Engineering and the Faculty of Education. The Unit coordinates and develops research projects that are designed to develop insights and expertise for curriculum innovation and teaching.

Some of our key research has been on the impact of threshold concepts on the teaching and learning of electronic engineering (Harlow & Scott, 2011), using software tools to improve engineering education experiences (Torrens, de Lange, & Hight, 2011), the use of e-learning practices in engineering education in a University environment (Johnson et al., 2011) and the nature of learning communities in engineering (Kunnemeyer et al., 2008).

The unit is available for external contract work and keen to discuss opportunities to work with the engineering community to provide a more relevant and engaging curriculum for future engineers.