Distance Learning - Co-Operation Between University, Regional College and Industry

Distance learning - co-operation between university, regional college and industry.

Annik Magerholm Fet, Associated Professor, Aalesund College, Norway.

Alfred Angelfoss, Research Co-ordinator, Aalesund College, Norway

Ove Bjørnseth, Assistant Professor, Aalesund College, Norway

ABSTRACT

Based on environmentally related projects carried out in a co-operation between university, regional college and industry, the need for environmental competence building with regard to solving environmental problems within industrial firms has come up as an important challenge.

The Norwegian authorities have supported the development of a distance learning course. It consists of four modules, and is called «Environmental management and methods for optimising environmental performance». The modules start with an introduction to laws and requirements, then an introduction to different tools and methods for internal inventories related to products, processes and activities. These methods will be systematised and applied from a product life cycle point of view. The third module is built upon system analysis techniques, and techniques for optimising a system’s performance. The last module is a practical task closely related to own company, and the results of the firms should, in addition to a higher level of insight in environmental-related problems, be an implemented environmental management system according to ISO 14001 or the European Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).

The course development is in the starting phase, but it is already introduced to about 50 firms and educational institutions with a good response. It is planned to use different kinds of medium, basically Internet. Also workshops during the course period will be arranged. The co-operation in the developing phase is between the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Aalesund College.

INTRODUCTION.

University and college education of engineers and technicians face a dilemma. On the one hand there is a strong need and demand from society for personnel that can to master the intricate interactions between technology and society, and between technology and physical and biological environment, both globally and locally. On the other hand, there is a similar need and demand for specialists that can master in depth penetration of complicated physical and societal problems. This dilemma represent a serious challenge to educational institutions world-wide. The question is how to master this situation and meet the needs in a rational, structured and stable way. However, education is usually conservative and slow in its changes. Hence it lags behind the swift changes in society, a situation that may have serious consequences for the development of the society. Interdisciplinarity and systems thinking are key words in this context. They represent vital elements in the solution of the dilemma described above. So-called Problem Based Learning (PBL) also plays an important role in supporting interdisciplinarity. In this paper interdisciplinarity and systems thinking will focus on environmental issues.

There are different concepts that aim at meeting the demands for interdisciplinarity. In terms of environmental engineering they may briefly be outlined as follows (Fet et al, 1 of 3,1996):

The development of a new and interdisciplinary education, with emphasis on the interaction between technology and nature and between technology and society, where the topics and courses are taken from several traditionally different disciplines and put together with an emphasis on interdisciplinarity. This is the Systems Engineering approach based on the general philosophy of problem solving, which is tried at many American universities (Asbjørnsen, 1992).
The integration of Systems and Environmental Engineering, Life Cycle Assessment, etc., into all courses, where such integration is natural and relevant. This is the natural science approach similar to the way mathematics, physics and chemistry are integrated into other courses as the core and reinforcement of all technical subjects. This approach is truly interdisciplinary, because the teaching needs to be co-ordinated (team teaching).
Interdisciplinary courses are given by one department for all others, without real inter-disciplinary integration, e.g. courses in environmental topics. The students are presented with general environmental problems and issues, but without proper connection to their field of profession e.g. mechanical, chemical, electrical or civil engineering. Here the interdisciplinarity is more of a cosmetic addition to the traditional education without real integration.

The second approach seems to provide the best point of departure for a successful interdisciplinarity for environmental education, but it is very demanding and it may be the most difficult to achieve. For this reason we will find, all three approaches in the attempts of the universities implement the interdisciplinary areas in their education. So-called «Problem based learning» (PBL) has a truly interdisciplinary aspect. There is an increasing interest for this method around the world. In Norway it is widely used in health education, but other kinds of professional education have started using it to an increasing extent. Problem based learning has three characteristics:

A situation from the real world serves as point of departure for working with the problem and as a basis for learning.
Learning is self controlled, i.e. that the method is based on the students own activity and responsibility for the learning process.
That the work is based on co-operation in groups.

In traditional education discipline competence is emphasised, whereas PBL focuses on a more comprehensive notion of competence which may be called «professional competence» and where different elements of competence are integrated, see Figure 1.

The aim of all education for a profession is to prepare the student for the world that confronts him after graduation. Traditional education to some extent misses that aim due to its fragmented approach. The students should not have to describe their education as grouping their way through darkness until the last semester where the secret is revealed and the connections between disciplines come to light. It is said that PBL does not only result in better interdisciplinary competence, but it also fosters motivation for knowledge and learning. It is also said that recruitment policy in the industry is presently changing from «hire for competence and train for attitude» to «hire for attitude and train for competence». Hence attitude becomes an important criterion for recruitment and education must select methods that enhance the development of attitudes that recruiters look for.

Professional

Competence

Figure 1: The pattern of competence

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN NORWAY.

Higher education in Norway is primarily based on four universities, five specialised colleges having university status and 26 regional colleges offering higher education.

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU has a strong tradition in fields of ecology and environmental technology. The Faculty of Economics and Industrial Management gives courses on the interaction between society, technology and the environment, but the integration in the traditional courses is marginal. Several other faculties have their own lines of studies or courses which are oriented towards the environmental issues. The Centre for Environment and Development works on several areas (biodiversity, management of environmental resources, and sustainable technology development) all areas motivated by the interdisciplinary needs as part of sustainable development. The Centre and selected departments across faculties establish joint courses which focus the life-cycle oriented aspects of environmental engineering (industrial ecology, design for the environment and design for recycling), as optional parts of traditional engineering curricula. In this way life-cycle thinking is integrated as key parts of the course orientation.

The regional colleges in Norway became effective in 1994 as a result of a merger of approximately one hundred smaller regional colleges. They offer engineering education within the disciplines of Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Marine Engineering, Production Technology, Naval Architecture, Information Technology and Chemistry. The overall plan for three year engineering education at the college level emphasises an education with the aim of enabling engineers to combine theoretical and technical knowledge as well as practical skills, in a way that they become conscious of the interactions between technology, environmental issues and social issues. All engineering students must take a course in environmental topics covering interaction between technology, society, and the environment. The course has some truly interdisciplinary aspects integrating basic chemistry, environmental issues, social behaviour, legal aspects and management. Three teachers covering different aspects of the curriculum co-operate in giving the course an interdisciplinary form

In addition to lectures, groups of students work on projects related to environmental issues and with reference to the engineering profession subject to their study. The majority of these projects have their basis in local industry which is normally very co-operative in giving the students access to sites and information. Each group has an advisor appointed among the teachers in engineering disciplines. The project reports and the presentation of same indicate that the students have acquired competence across discipline borders which would have been difficult to achieve through «traditional» lectures. Hence environmental issues have in a way penetrated the traditional discipline boundaries. An important aspect is also that the students develop self confidence socially and professionally.

Collaboration PROJECTS between university, college, research center and industry.

Aalesund College offers more than 20 types of education, and the college work in close co-operation with local industry and with local research centres. One of these centres, Møre Research, was established in 1980 and its activity is to a large extent based on the personnel resources of the colleges in the region. Its main objective is to advance, initiate, make arrangements for, finance and carry out research and transfer of competence in various fields.

In 1994 Møre Research joined a Research and Development program jointly sponsored by government and industry. In this program several environmental related projects have been carried out. Participants have been industrial partners, researchers and people engaged in education. The driving force for industry participating in the program is mostly economical benefits through possible reduction of material costs, reduction of costs for waste handling etc. The progress in this program has been:

Cleaner production projects
System analysis - life cycle approach
Application of new technologies and product development
Environmental impacts and activity based costing during operation of a ship
Implementation of environmental management system
Environmental indicators for environmental performance evaluation
Development of manuals and industrial guidelines for pollution prevention at shipyards

The methodologies, the implementation, results and benefits will be briefly commented upon in the following context. The progress of the projects are illustrated by Figure 2

Figure 2: An overview of environmental projects carried out in the ship industry, and from which data in the present work is gathered.

Cleaner production projects. In these projects all kinds of emissions and releases from surface protection, -cleaning and recoating, repair or rebuilding of ships were measured (Fet et al, 1 of 2, 1994). Each yard made up a priority list of actions for the reduction of environmental impacts. The reduction was calculated, and so were the economic profits related to each of those measures.
System analysis - life cycle approach. Project 1 revealed a need for taking the total System Life Cycle of a ship into account when calculating environmental impacts and determining priorities. The system had to be properly defined in order to understand its structure as well as the interactions of systems and their impact on the natural environment. Systems and subsystems with their system boundaries were defined, and a detailed activity scheme for each of the phases in a ship’s life cycle was described (Fet et al, 2 of 2, 1994).

Application of new technologies and product development. The findings and priorities in project 1 gave rise to new projects aiming to solve urgent environmental problems at shipyards. Key issues in these projects were cleaning and recovery of solvent, waste water treatment systems for dry-docks, high pressure water cleaning system for painted areas, systems for protection under outdoor sandblasting and painting, and waste handling systems.

Environmental impacts and activity based costs during operation of a ship. In this project an activity based life cycle cost-analysis and a life cycle assessment study for a platform supply vessel was carried out. The hull and the main machinery system, related subsystems, and activities like normal operation, maintenance and repair and related material flows for a ten year period, were studied. Applied methodologies were the LCA- and the LCC-methodologies. Prior to detailed calculations, a Life Cycle Screening was carried out to identify key issues for further investigations (Fet et al, 2 of 3, 1996).
Implementation of environmental management systems. This project focused on the implementation of EMSAS at shipyards. Each company described their environmental policy, objectives and targets for improvements were set and programs for achieving these targets were established (Håvold, J.I., 1997).
Environmental indicators for environmental performance evaluation. The goal of this project was to develop EPIs for EPE in the shipbuilding industry in Norway. Especially the methodology of selecting appropriate EPIs was tested and evaluated. This project was also a part of a collaboration between Nordic companies representing a broad diversity of industries. Based on the experience from this and project 5, a plan for improving environmental performance was suggested (Fet et al, 3 of 3, 1996).
Development of manuals and industrial guidelines for pollution prevention at shipyards. Based on experiences from project 1, a manual for pollution prevention, «Handbook in Cleaner Production in Shipyards» (Fet et al, 1995) has been written. The manual is written in Norwegian, but parts of it have been translated into English and constitute a part of the guideline «Shipyard Environmental Pollution Control». This guideline is now also used by Philippine shipyards as a part of a UNDP-program in Manila.

INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION DISTANCE LEARNING - NEW COURSE IN DEVELOPMENT

The research program described above is now in the process of being evaluated. There are positive effects apart from promising R&D results, e.g. the establishment of a network between industry, research and education, promotion of interdisciplinary thinking through working in teams dealing with complex environmental problems related to industry. Feedback from projects has had a concrete influence on the curricula of Aalesund College, and on the competence in research methodologies transferable to other industries. We feel, however, that experience and know how derived from this program could be utilised more effectively in education with regard to curriculum content and pedagogical issues, and that is the background of the distant learning course now under development. «Systems engineering» and «interdisciplinarity» are key words in how to integrate educational disciplines. This is particularly important when it comes to a thorough understanding of the environmental issues related to human activity. This is therefore the framework of the course. The model of integrated education based on industrial projects illustrated in Figure3.

NTNU and the Norwegian Council for the Education of Engineers have agreed to develop a national network for the development and maintenance of competence in trade and industry. As a minimum, the network should comprise the technical university, the regional colleges, the employers federation and the workers union. The work has been arranged as a project and the main areas of activity in the past years have been to support arrangement of conferences on R&D issues, upgrading and further education, making policy documents on visions and strategies for competence transfer and give financial support for development projects. In the

Figure 3: Model of an integrated environmental education program

(Fet et al, 1 of 3, 1996)

context of this network a distance learning course on environmental issues is presently being developed through joint efforts between NTNU, Aalesund College and the industry. The development of this course has financial support from «SOFF» a public organisation that promotes the development of remote learning in Norway. It consists of four modules, and is called «Environmental management and methods for optimising environmental performance». The target audience is engineers and economists in the industry and commerce, at top or middle management level. The course model is rooted in the Systems Engineering principles, and the modules are:

The first module gives an introduction to laws and requirements.

The second is an introduction to different tools and methods for internal inventories related to products, processes and activities. These methods will be systematised and applied from a product life cycle point of view.

The third module is built upon system analysis techniques, and techniques for optimising a system’s performance.

The last module is a practical task closely related to own company, and the results of the firms should, in addition to a higher level of insight in environmental-related problems, be an implemented environmental management system according to ISO 14001 or EMAS.