Project Management Competences by Teaching and Research Staff for the Sustained Success of Engineering Education

Teachers Who are Stuck in Time: Development and Validation of Teachers' Time Poverty Scale

Purpose

Time poverty has been shown to adversely affect individuals' development as well as organizations and countries, which is also a widespread problem among teachers, affecting work performance, mental health, and even the development of students and schools. However, the advancement of education research on time poverty has been stymied by the lack of a validated measure. Therefore, to fill the theoretical gap of time poverty in education and to compensate for the absence of an instrument for measuring teachers' time poverty and the challenges of using objective measures, it is necessary to develop and verify a domain-specific measurement instrument among teachers.

Patients and Methods

An online questionnaire is designed through a Chinese data collection platform (Questionnaire Star). Study 1 and Study 2 are a cross-sectional study included 713 teachers in China and the descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and analyses of exploratory and confirmatory factors are used to develop the Teachers' Time Poverty Scale. Study 3 and Study 4 are a longitudinal study included 330 teachers, while the Time Confusion Tendency Scale and Life Satisfaction Scale is used to verify the measurement tool. SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.3 are used to analyze the data.

Results

Teachers' Time Poverty Scale with the single-factor structure exhibits good psychometric properties based on seven items. And teachers' time poverty can negatively and significantly predict life satisfaction and teachers' time poverty can be positively and significantly predicted by time confusion tendency.

Conclusion

Teachers' Time Poverty Scale is a useful tool that can be used in actual investigations to provide empirical support for teachers, schools, and education policy makers.

Application of Circular Economy Techniques for Design and Development of Products through Collaborative Project-Based Learning for Industrial Engineer Teaching

Collaborative project-based learning aims to get students to take responsibility for their knowledge processes. The objective of this research is to analyze the viability of applying circular economy techniques for the design and development of products, through learning based on collaborative projects in industrial engineering. A survey was carried out between 2015 and 2019 on final year students of industrial engineering in Spain, from five different academic years. The responses obtained were analyzed statistically. The results indicate that the students who had more previous knowledge about the circular economy, valued its relevance for the design and development of products as well as for the practice of the profession more. In addition, it was demonstrated that the implementation of circular economy strategies in the design and development of products through collaborative projects allows the acquisition of different knowledge: eco-design, product planning and distribution, reuse, recycling, etc. Moreover, most of the students considered that the circular economy should be a complementary discipline and a transversal competence.

Sustainable Development Planning: Master’s Based on a Project-Based Learning Approach

The educational subject of Sustainable Development Planning in Europe is evolving due to the implementation of the Bologna Agreement across the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This paper analyses a project-based learning strategy for training Sustainable Development Planning in postgraduate programs, in Spain (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM). This project-based learning strategy is applied to an International Postgraduate Program for Sustainable Rural Development—Erasmus Mundus, Master’s of Science—with the participation of five European Union universities that formed the Agris Mundus Alliance for Sustainable Development. Using a mixed methods approach, the research examined the program’s implementation through student and staff perceptions, from the technical, behavioral and contextual project management skills. The paper argues that the “Practical Learning platforms” used in the Master’s demonstrate the correct approach of the learning strategy based on teaching–research linked to the professional sphere. The findings that were identified can be categorized as follows: (1) Perspective: holistic thinking and intellectual coherence, defining the contextual skills that must be navigated within and across the broader environment, (2) Practice: experiential learning by reconnecting to real-life situations, and (3) People: Personal and interpersonal skills required to succeed in sustainable projects, programs and portfolios. Reflections on the experience and main success factors in the learning strategy are discussed.