Engineering Subject Centre

The Engineering Subject Centre (EngSC) was one of 24 subject centres within the Higher Education Academy from 2000 to 2011. The Academy encouraged, supported and enabled teaching excellence in the United Kingdom higher education community. This was achieved through development of research and evaluation both for the higher education (HE) community as a whole and through the discipline-specific expertise of the subject centres. The stated aim of the Academy is: "to improve the learning experience for students".

The logo of the Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre

Higher Education Academy
Subject Centres

Art, Design, Media Subject Centre
Bioscience Subject Centre
Built Environment Subject Centre
Business Management and Accountancy (BEST) Subject Centre
Economics Network
Education (ESCALATE) Subject Centre
Engineering Subject Centre
English Subject Centre
Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Subject Centre
Health Sciences and Practice Subject Centre
History, Classics and Archaeology Subject Centre
Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Subject Centre
Information and Computer Sciences Subject Centre
Subject Centre for Languages Linguistics and Area Studies
UK Centre for Legal Education
UK Centre for Materials Education
Maths, Stats & OR Network
Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine Subject Centre
PALATINE (Performing Arts Learning and Teaching Innovation Network)
Philosophical and Religious Studies Subject Centre
Physical Sciences Subject Centre
Psychology Subject Centre
Subject Network for Sociology, Anthropology, Politics
Social Policy and Social Work (SWAP) Subject Centre

edit this box

The Engineering Subject Centre was based in the Faculty of Engineering at Loughborough University. It drew upon the expertise of engineering academics and educationalists from across the higher education sector, and worked closely with the engineering professional bodies.

History

The centre was originally created as part of the Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN), founded in January 2000. The Higher Education Academy was founded in May 2004, from a merger of the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILTHE), the LTSN, and the Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund National Co-ordination Team. As a part of the Higher Education Academy, the subject centre was funded by grants from four higher education funding bodies in the UK (Higher Education Funding Council for England, Scottish Funding Council, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and Department for Employment and Learning), subscriptions from higher education institutions, and grant/contract income for organised initiatives. In 2010 it was announced that all subject centres would be closed, and a reduced service to subjects provided by the HEA at York.[1] This process was completed in 2011[2]

Work areas

Engineering Subject Centre Mini-Projects

Projects were awarded up to £3500 over 12 months to complete small scale research or development projects.

Events

The Centre maintained a comprehensive list of both national and international events. The centre also held a number of events every year covering a diverse range of subjects relating to the practice of the working engineering academic. Although for a UK audience many subjects covered are related to worldwide practice.

Engineering Education: Journal of the Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre

Engineering Education was a peer-reviewed, international journal freely available via the website of the Engineering Subject Centre and distributed in paper format to all UK university libraries and Engineering departments. Engineering Education was published in the summer and winter each year. The journal supported papers in the traditional format and those incorporating or demonstrating multimedia and web technology.[3]

Educational resources

The Engineering Subject Centre's Resource Database had direct online links to around 1500 approved engineering-specific and general learning and teaching resources, such as guides, reports, case studies and organisational websites, in addition to the Centre's own range of publications.[3]

References
  1. Times Higher Education 18 November 2010 130 jobs will go as HEA set to scrap its subject centres
  2. B. Chalkley & S Stirling (2011) Sustainability, 3, 666-677; Hard Times in Higher Education: The Closure of Subject Centres and the Implications for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
  3. EngSC archive website Archived 2014-02-01 at the Wayback Machine

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.