Stephen Smith’s $100 million donation might’ve transformed Smith Engineering’s budget, but for students, the quality of teaching remains a top priority.
A total of 256 Smith Engineering students anonymously commented on a University call out to answer one question: what reimagining engineering education looks like. Comments demanding ionate and engaging teaching from professors gained the most popularity amongst students.
Of 132 comments, the top recommendations asked for professors who care about students and their subject, and are regularly assessed on their teaching abilities. Other top-rated comments mentioned regular teaching assessments and hiring professors who prioritized teaching over research.
In a Feb. 8 presentation, Smith Engineering Dean Kevin Deluzio shared the insights with interested students in the Biosciences Complex.
“It was a fantastic discussion with our students about the vision for Smith Engineering. I was so impressed with the thoughtful suggestions coming from our students,” Deluzio said in a statement to The Journal.
Though thoughts on professors and teaching gained the most popularity, other suggestions included ing design teams and increasing the number of industry-specific courses and providing more technical training.
Impacted by the changes themselves, 27 per cent of comments were made by second-year students. Fifth-year students ed for 11 per cent of student participants.
Though students across the faculty agreed having a teaching-focused faculty is important, first and second year students were more concerned with improving technology and lab spaces offered in the faculty.
Despite multiple requests, the Engineering Society (EngSoc) declined to comment on their involvement in the faculty’s restructuring and its teaching practices. EngSoc represents over 3,600 undergraduate engineering students at Queen’s and allegedly advocates for their best interests but refuses to comment on its efforts publicly.
The Dean’s Office opted to use the platform ThoughtExchange to understand what issues were important to students, allowing for anonymity and for comments to be interactive. The platform was open for 10 days.
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