Educational Paradigms in Engineering Education and Their Link with Outcomes Based Education

Most of the current theoretical perspectives espoused by many South African engineering educators are commensurate with some radical international developments in the engineering realm aimed at getting students to think, or go beyond the information given with integrative skill of bringing knowledge, skills, understanding and experience together in problem solving activities and environment; which provides students with the best kind of preparation for life-long independent learning. Through a philosophical-analytical procedure and a theoretical literature survey, this paper aims to classify several theoretical perspectives on engineering education in three paradigms: behaviourist, interpretive and critical. I contend that an eclectic approach to engineering education is necessary, drawing on the behaviourist, interpretive and critical (with strong links with OBE) paradigms, in order that both facts and skills acquisition become the rationale which guides and shapes engineering programmes at higher education level both in South Africa and several countries which continue to reduce engineering teaching and learning to that of factual, technical content.