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Engineering Academy at TalTech
The Engineering Academy is a collaborative initiative between the Estonian state, educational institutions, companies and professional associations to improve the quality of education in engineering, to secure the next generation of engineers and increase the popularity of the field.
The Engineering Academy's activities period is 2023 to 2029 and will be implemented by the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of IT, the Faculty of Science, the Department of Studies, the Open University and the support structure.
Engineering Academy 3 focus areas
- Developing an engineering roadmap from a university perspective to better communicate and empower planned activities, refine intervention logics and achieve effective implementation of the actions;
- Providing vocational education for girls to introduce engineering education - at least 750 secondary school girls will be involved in the Unicorn Squad network activities by the end of 2025.
- The Young Engineer Program, which aims to provide young people in the last year of primary school and in upper secondary school interested in technology and engineering with in-depth knowledge in various engineering fields under the guidance of TalTech researchers, lecturers and students.
- The Engineers' Days will visit at least 20 schools per year, with the aim of introducing engineering in general education schools in cooperation with professional associations, partners of the Engineering Academy and TalTech.
- Offering engineering elective courses to partner schools and state secondary schools. By the end of 2025 nine engineering elective courses "Engineering and Manufacturing" will be conducted in different Estonian secondary schools.
- In 2025 TalTech will develop two engineering e-courses, which will offer engineering-related elective courses to different upper secondary schools as well as to students of vocational schools. From 2026 to 2029, one additional e-curriculum will be developed each year.
- Involvement of school students in university student projects - We will support the activities of TalTech student organizations that involve school students in different projects.
- Increased implementation and delivery of problem-based and project-based learning (PBL) - updating the Engineering Academy's focus curricula; supporting lecturers in the creation of new teaching materials and resources; involving representatives of the potential employees in teaching; recruiting additional teaching assistants and adjunct lecturers on a basis of need.
- Curriculum development, quality development and renewal of teaching infrastructures - renewal of generic competences and integration into specialized subjects will review the coherence of curricula and focus on the implementation of learning for effective learning; development of e-learning and digital learning resources and support for the renewal of assessment methods and materials; involvement of instructional designers, didactics and other learning development specialists; support for the renewal of teaching infrastructures in focus curricula.
- Support the professional development and succession of lecturers - supporting the acquisition of different teaching methods and updating of specialized skills of lecturers; involving senior students in teaching; supporting the development of the pedagogical competences of external lecturers and co-lecturers from industry; developing the leadership skills of program leaders, their teams and other key staff of the Engineering Academy; recruiting new lecturers.
- Increasing personalized support, including recruiting student mentors and teaching assistants - introducing the IntelliBoard learning analytics platform for early identification of students at risk of dropping out and planning support measures; proactively supporting first-year students on curricular issues; engaging teaching assistants to support lecturers in teaching large groups of students and providing more personalized support to students; conducting training or development programs for people providing support to students.
- Supplementary mathematics - Providing all first-year students in focus curricula with additional mathematical practice to improve subject mastery and to level student gaps; providing analysis to improve the effectiveness of maths teaching and the content of maths subjects.
- Provision of additional support to improve graduation performance - mapping bottlenecks from the perspective of students, supervisors and program managers, drawing up of an action plan to reduce bottlenecks and implementation of the resulting actions; training or development programs for in-house supervisors and co-supervisors from the working world; piloting of different intervention approaches to improve graduation (individual counselling, thesis workshops, etc.).
Curricula in focus
- Electrical Power Engineering and Mechatronics (BA)
- Environmental, Energy and Chemical Technology (BA)
- Materials Technology (BA)
- Product Development and Robotics (BA)
- Structural Engineering and Construction Management (integrated)
- Indoor Climate in Buildings and Water Engineering (integrated)
- Road Engineering and Geodesy (integrated)
- Electrical Engineering and Mechatronics (MA)
- Product Development and Production Engineering (MA)
- Hardware Development and Programming (MA)
Contact
The activities of the Engineering Academy in higher education are implemented within the framework of the European Social Fund's program "Engineering Academy and IT Academy in Higher Education". The aim is to ensure that higher education and the number of graduates in the fields of engineering and ICT meet the needs of the labor market.
As a result of the activities, the supported areas will increase student enrolment, reduce drop-out rates, increase the number of graduates and match the professional knowledge and skills of graduates with the needs of the labor market.
The period of the activities is from 01.05.2023 to 31.08.2029 for a total cost of EUR 34 048 900. More information on the HARNO website.
