Towards Human-Oriented Engineering Education

Abstract

Continuous changes in different spheres of human activity rapidly intensifying in the globalized world pose dramatic challenges for individuals and educational institutions whose mission is to prepare their graduates for professional, lifelong success. The changes trigger a continuous discourse on the nature and form of educational paradigms and pivotal values that should be utilized by schools and universities to fulfill their mission. The chapter presents the human-oriented model of engineering focused on empathy, constructed in the group of academics at Lodz University of Technology. This group has defined a methodological approach that can help to guide students and teachers in finding the optimal approach in project-based study programs, most notably in the European Project Semester. Moreover, the chapter includes the results of interviews with students and project mentors and survey results measuring empathy in both stakeholder groups.