Guest Editorial
Redefining Quality in Engineering Education Through
Hybrid Instruction

Engineering education provided to current and future students needs to change significantly in order to prepare our graduates for a world of rapidly accelerating changes. Developed and developing countries are driving rapid changes in science, engineering, technology, and economics, along with changes in other areas. As Mote (2010) points out such changes cannot be ignored; for example, he makes the observation that none of the top-ten U.S. employment opportunities in 2010 existed in 2004. Furthermore, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) (2011) identified 14 of the “Grand Engineering Challenges” that confront us today. None of these challenges will be solved without engineers, but none of these challenges will be solved by engineers alone. The technical and the non-technical challenges are now inseparable (Sheppard, Pellegrino, & Olds, 2008). Strong communication and teamwork skills are essential for engineers to function effectively in the interdisciplinary teams in which they will find themselves. Changes in the content and approach to engineering education are needed to prepare engineers to help address these Grand Challenges and to respond to the rapidly changing environment of the twenty-first century.

To function effectively and to contribute to improvements in the quality of life and the economy in a time of increasing global connectivity and accelerating change, schools of engineering must continue to increase the scientific and engineering depth of the education they provide. As the boundaries between the various engineering disciplines disappear, and the boundaries between science and engineering, as well as health care and engineering fade, engineering education must also provide ever-increasing interdisciplinary breadth. Simultaneously, globalization requires engineering education to cross cultural and national boundaries to educate “global engineers”: engineers who are globally competent and locally relevant so that they can function effectively in any country or culture to help improve the quality of life and sustainable economic growth...