Abstract
Extension learning is a particular form of continuing professional development enacted in agriculture, engineering and science, whereby already qualified and experienced practitioners engage in periods of formalised training in specific, currently topical areas of study, whether “in the field” or “off base” at a university or other training provider. This kind of learning by extension inevitably bears the traces of the historically constructed and the geopolitically mediated regional, national and provincial contexts in which it is experienced. This is certainly the situation with the exploratory, dual site case study presented in this chapter of the provision of postgraduate engineering education with a sustainability focus by the relevant school of engineering in an Australian university, and also of the provision of extension learning by a specialised section in the faculty of engineering in a Venezuelan university.
The analysis of these sites addresses the chapter’s research question: “How can engineering professional quality be enhanced through extension learning in Australia and Venezuela?”. This analysis is clustered around the three themes of professional currency, professional agency and professional mobility. This discussion highlights the situated and increasingly politicised character of the provision of extension learning for Australian and Venezuelan engineers provided by the universities under review here. At the same time, there is considerable evidence of the ongoing effectiveness of that provision for generating quality practice in this professional enterprise/production field.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ali, I. M., Pascoe, C., & Warne, L. (2002, April). Interactions of organizational culture and collaboration in working and learning. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 5(2), 60–68.
Basart, J. M., & Serra, M. (2013, March). Engineering ethics beyond engineers’ ethics. Science and Engineering Ethics, 19(1), 179–187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-011-9293-z
Biggs, J. (2012). What the student does: Teaching for enhanced learning. Higher Education Research and Development, 31(1), 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2012.642839
Boblin, S. L., Ireland, S., Kirkpatrick, H., & Robertson, K. (2013). Using Stake’s qualitative case study approach to explore implementation of evidence-based practice. Qualitative Health Research, 23(9), 1267–1275. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732313502128
Boni, A., & Gasper, D. (2012). Rethinking the quality of universities: How can human development thinking contribute? Journal of Human Development and Capabilities: A Multi-disciplinary Journal for People-Centred Development, 13(3), 451–470. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2012.679647
Bot, L., Gossiaux, P.-B., Rauch, C.-P., & Tabiou, S. (2005). “Learning by doing”: A teaching method for active learning in scientific graduate education. European Journal of Engineering Education, 30(1), 105–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043790512331313868
Brady, N. (2012). From “moral loss” to “moral reconstruction”? A critique of ethical perspectives on challenging the neoliberal hegemony in UK universities in the 21st century. Oxford Review of Education, 38(3), 343–355. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2012.698987
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2014). What can “thematic analysis” offer health and wellbeing researchers? International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Health and Well-being, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v9.26152
Brown, R., Ashley, R., & Farrelly, M. (2011, December). Political and professional agency entrapment: An agenda for urban water research. Water Resources Management, 25(15), 4037–4050. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-011-9886-y
Cerra, V. (2017). How can a strong currency or drop in oil prices raise inflation and the black-market premium? Economic Modelling. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2017.05.015
Chamberlain, J. M. (2012). The sociology of medical regulation: An introduction. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Clarke, V., & Braun, V. (2014). Thematic analysis. In T. Teo (Ed.), Encyclopedia of critical psychology (pp. 1947–1952). New York, NY: Springer.
Clarke, V., & Braun, V. (2017). Thematic analysis. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(3), 297–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1262613
Coffee, J. C. (2006). Gatekeepers: The professions and corporate governance. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Collins, H. (2014, October). Rejecting knowledge claims inside and outside science. Social Studies of Science, 44(5), 722–735. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312714536011
Corey, G., Schneider Corey, M., Corey, C., & Callinan, P. (2014). Issues and ethics in the helping professions (9th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Cristóvão, A., Koutsouris, A., & Kügler, M. (2012). Extension systems and change facilitation for agricultural and rural development. In L. Darnhofer, D. Gibbon, & B. Dedieu (Eds.), Farming systems research into the 21st century: The new dynamic (pp. 201–227). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Davis, K. E. (2008, Fall). Extension in sub-Saharan Africa: Overview and assessment of past and current models, and future prospects. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, 15(3), 15–28. Retrieved from https://www.aiaee.org/attachments/article/111/Davis-Vol-15.3-2.pdf
Davis, M. (2015). Engineering as profession: Some methodological problems in its study. In S. H. Christensen, C. Didier, A. Jamison, M. Meganck, C. Mitcham, & B. Newberry (Eds.), Engineering identities, epistemologies and values: Engineering education and practice in context(Philosophy of Engineering and Technology Vol. 21) (Vol. 2, pp. 65–79). Zug, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
De Corte, J. (2017, November 21). Locked in a stalemate: The Organization of American States and the Venezuelan democratic crisis. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3073692
Duderstadt, J. J. (2010). Engineering for a changing world: A roadmap to the future of American engineering practice, research, and education. In D. Grasso & M. B. Burkins (Eds.), Holistic engineering education (pp. 17–35). New York, NY: Springer.
Engineers Australia. (2017). Apply for membership. Retrieved from https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/Membership
Eteläpelto, A., Vähäsantanen, K., Hökkä, P., & Paloniemi, S. (2013, December). What is agency? Conceptualizing professional agency at work. Educational Research Review, 10, 45–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2013.05.001
Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2003, Fall). Learning by doing. Chemical Engineering Education, 37(4), 282–283.
Franz, N., Garst, B. A., Baughman, S., Smith, C., & Peters, B. (2009, August). Catalyzing transformation: Conditions in extension educational environments that promote change. Journal of Extension, 47(4). Retrieved from https://www.joe.org/joe/2009august/rb1.php
Friesen, M. R. (2011). Immigrants’ integration and career development in the professional engineering workplace in the context of social and cultural capital. Engineering Studies, 3(2), 79–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/19378629.2011.571260
Fry, J. D., & Ibrahim, E. (2013, September). Reassessing Venezuela’s organic hydrocarbon law: A balance between sovereignty and efficiency. Journal of World Energy Law & Business, 6(3), 234–259. https://doi.org/10.1093/jwelb/jwt005
Fulton, A., Fulton, D., Tabart, T., Ball, P., Champion, S., Weatherley, J., & Heinjus, D. (2003, May). Agricultural extension, learning and change: A report for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. Barton, ACT: Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.
Gherardi, S. (2008). Situated knowledge and situated action: What do practice-based studies promise? In D. Barry & H. Hansen (Eds.), The Sage handbook of new approaches to management and organization (pp. 516–525). London, UK: Sage Publications.
Gill, T. M. (2017). Unpacking the world cultural toolkit in socialist Venezuela: National sovereignty, human rights and anti-NGO legislation. Third World Quarterly, 38(3), 621–635. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2016.119925
Goggins, J. (2012). Engineering in communities: Learning by doing. Campus-Wide Information Systems, 29(4), 238–250. https://doi.org/10.1108/10650741211253831
Gorman, E. H., & Sandelfur, R. L. (2011, August). “Golden age”, quiescence, and revival: How the sociology of professions became the study of knowledge-based work. Work and Occupations, 38(3), 275–302. https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888411417565
Grace, P. J. (2014). Philosophical foundations of applied and professional ethics. In P. J. Grace (Ed.), Nursing ethics and professional responsibility in advanced practice (2nd ed., pp. 1–43). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Guest, G. (2006). Lifelong learning for engineers: A global perspective. European Journal of Engineering Education, 31(3), 273–281. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043790600644396
Gulikers, J. T. M., Bastiaens, T. J., & Kirschner, P. A. (2004). A five-dimensional framework for authentic assessment. Educational Technology Research and Development, 52(3), 67–86.
Harris, C. E., Pritchard, M. S., Rabins, M. J., James, R., & Englehardt, E. (2014). Engineering ethics: Concepts and cases (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Heitmann, G. (2005). Challenges of engineering education and curriculum development in the context of the Bologna process. European Journal of Engineering Education, 30(4), 447–458. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043790500213136
Hökkä, P., Eteläpelto, A., & Rasku-Puttonen, H. (2012). The professional agency of teacher educators amid academic discourses. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research & Pedagogy, 38(1), 83–102.
Ingersoll, R. M., & Perda, D. (2008). The status of teaching as a profession. In J. H. Ballantine & J. Z. Spade (Eds.), Schools and society: A sociological approach to education (3rd ed., pp. 106–118). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Jonnergård, K., & Erlingsdóttir, G. (2012, September). Variations in professions’ adaption of quality reforms: The cases of doctors and auditors in Sweden. Current Sociology, 60(5), 672–689. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392112440440
Jørgensen, U., & Valderrama, A. (2016). The politics of engineering professionalism and education. In U. Jørgensen & S. Brodersen (Eds.), Engineering professionalism (Professional practice and education: A diversity of voices) (pp. 283–309). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Kastenhofer, K., Lansu, A., van Dam-Mieras, R., & Sotoudeh, M. (2010, March). The contribution of university curricula to engineering education for sustainable development. GAIA—Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 19(1), 44–51. https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.19.1.10
Kaufman, H. G. (1972). Relations of ability and interest to currency of professional knowledge among engineers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 56(6), 495–499. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0033751
Kingsbury, D. V. (2016, October). Oil’s colonial residues: Geopolitics, identity, and resistance in Venezuela. Bulletin of Latin American Research, 35(4), 423–436. https://doi.org/10.1111/blar.12477
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall/Harris.
Lent, R. W., Sheu, H.-B., Singley, D., Schmidt, J. A., Schmidt, L. C., & Gloster, C. S. (2008, October). Longitudinal relations of self-efficacy to outcome expectations, interests, and major choice goals in engineering students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73(2), 328–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2008.07.005
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
Litchfield, B. C., & Dempsey, J. V. (2015, Summer). Authentic assessment of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. New Directions for Teaching & Learning, 2015(142), 65–80. https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.20130
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2016). Designing qualitative research (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Murray, C., & Lawry, J. (2011, August). Maintenance of professional currency: Perceptions of occupational therapists. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 58(4), 261–269. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1630.2011.00927.x
Nasser, R. N., & Romanowski, M. H. (2016). Social justice and the engineering profession: Challenging engineering education to move beyond the technical. In M. Abdulwahed, M. O. Hasna, & J. E. Froyd (Eds.), Advances in engineering education in the Middle East and North Africa: Current status, and future insights (pp. 409–428). Zug, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Noordegraaf, M. (2011, October). Risky business: How professionals and professional fields (must) deal with organizational issues. Organization Studies, 32(10), 1349–1371. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840611416748
Prince, M. J., & Felder, R. M. (2006, April). Inductive teaching and learning methods: Definitions, comparisons, and research bases. Journal of Engineering Education, 95(2), 123–138. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2006.tb00884.x
Resnik, D. B. (2017). Examining the social benefits principle in research with human participants. Health Care Analysis, 26(1), 66–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-016-0326-2
Russell, J. S. (2013, June). Shaping the future of the civil engineering profession. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 139(6), 654–664. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000600. Retrieved from http://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000600
Saks, M. (2012). Defining a profession: The role of knowledge and expertise. Professions and Professionalism, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.7577/pp.v2i1.151 Retrieved from https://journals.hioa.no/index.php/pp/article/view/151
Singer, J. B. (2007). Contested autonomy: Professional and popular claims on journalistic norms. Journalism Studies, 8(1), 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700601056866
Slay, H. S., & Smith, D. A. (2011, January). Professional identity construction: Using narrative to understand the negotiation of professional and stigmatized cultural identities. Human Relations, 64(1), 85–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726710384290
Stake, R. E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 443–466). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Sturdy, A., & Wright, C. (2011, November). The active client: The boundary-spanning roles of internal consultants as gatekeepers, brokers and partners of their external counterparts. Management Learning, 42(5), 485–503. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507611401536
Tait, M. (2011, June). Trust and the public interest in the micropolitics of planning practice. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 31(2), 157–171. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X11402628
Thomas, G. (2016). How to do your case study (2nd ed.). London, UK: Sage Publications.
Thorpe, D. S. (2016). Experiential learning approaches for developing professional skills in postgraduate engineering students. In A. Rahman & V. Ilic (Eds.), Proceedings of international conference on engineering education and research 21–24 November 2017 Western Sydney University, Parramatta Campus, Sydney, Australia. Sydney, NSW: School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, Western Sydney University. Retrieved from https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1176746/iCEER2016_Conference_Proceedings_official.pdf
University of Southern Queensland. (2017a). Course specification: ENG8104 Asset Management in an Engineering Environment. Toowoomba, QLD: Author.
University of Southern Queensland. (2017b). Course specification: ENG8208 Advanced Engineering Project Management. Toowoomba, QLD: Author.
University of Southern Queensland. (2017c). USQ handbook: Engineering and built environment. Retrieved from https://usq.edu.au/handbook/current/engineering-built-environment/engineering-built-environment.html
University of Technology Sydney. (2017). Master of Engineering (Extension). Retrieved from https://www.masterstudies.com/Master-of-Engineering-(Extension)/Australia/UTS/
Wu, H.-Y., Lin, Y.-K., & Chang, C.-H. (2011, February). Performance evaluation of extension education centers in universities based on the balanced scorecard. Evaluation and Program Planning, 34(1), 37–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2010.06.001
Yin, R. K. (2012). Applications of case study research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful for the inputs and insights afforded by their colleagues and the participants in the extension learning programs analysed in this chapter. The final version of the chapter has benefited from the constructive feedback of two anonymous peer reviewers. Professor Karen Trimmer has been an encouraging and facilitative editor.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Thorpe, D., Anteliz, E.A., Danaher, P.A. (2019). Interrogating the Value of Learning by Extension in Enhancing Professional Quality: The Case of Australian and Venezuelan Engineers. In: Trimmer, K., Newman, T., Padró, F.F. (eds) Ensuring Quality in Professional Education Volume II. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01084-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01084-3_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-01083-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-01084-3
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)