Welcome to the Centre for Engineering Education (CEE) blog at the University of Sheffield.
Explore our blogs on engineering education research, teaching practice, projects and activities, and developments in learning and teaching.
The blog brings together ideas, experiences and resources from colleagues working to improve engineering education.
Latest from the CEE Blog
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Attitudes Towards Generative AI: A Study with First-Year Computer Science Students
Varvara Papazoglou is a Teaching Associate in the School of Computer Science, University of Sheffield. In this post Varvara shares the work she led to investigate student perceptions of AI that found growing confidence, excitement and acceptance. The work was presented at the 18th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation (ICERI 2025). The…
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From Red Line Week to Engineering Education Scholarship Week: Why Taking Time Out Matters
The Centre for Engineering Education is an initiative to support the educational aims of Engineering at The University of Sheffield, and open to all, and especially the many and varied people who support these aims. In this post Emma Kenny-Levick, a Senior Administration Officer at The University of Sheffield and super power behind the CEE…
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Becoming Comfortable with Black Box Engineering
In this article, Professor Andrew Garrard from the University of Sheffield and Dr Parakram Pyakurel from New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering discuss whether engineering education’s traditional resistance to “black box” thinking remains fit for purpose. As simulation software, Industry 4.0 methods, and generative AI make it harder for engineers to understand the tools…
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Finding the Right Engineering Path
In this personal blog, undergraduate student Maddy McGuire reflects on how an uncertain start, brought on by Covid and virtual course searches, led to discovering the perfect course – Bioengineering (now called Biomedical Engineering) here at The University of Sheffield. Maddy shares how her course, team projects and a transformational placement at Mercedes AMG have…
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Group-led didactic teaching – is this novel?
Have you ever heard of Group-led didactic teaching? What is it? These are questions Professor Andrew Garrard has been considering as he develops the pedagogy behind the Engineering Sheffield ‘Project Weeks’. Called GEC and EYH, they are both core to undergraduate engineering education here at the University of Sheffield, well supported by our industry partners,…
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Innovation in Engineering Education – The Diamond – Twelve Architects
The conception of the Diamond Building was a huge project here at Sheffield Engineering that aimed to make a world leading space for Engineering teaching. It is the home of high quality teaching labs for all the engineering disciplines, as well as innovative teaching and study space. It is a wonderful space to be in…
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Scaling Up Practical Engineering Labs for Teaching Spaces
Efficiency in engineering education is important for managing large cohorts and can be successful as long as the key metric is quality. Dave Brown, Rob Woolley and Andrew Garrard demonstrated how to do it, by scaling up and delivering a fundamental thermodynamics practical class for a large, non-specialist teaching space, with larger cohorts and with fewer sessions.…
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Engineering and Teaching Shorts: Keeping CPD Bite-Sized and Impactful
Michael Trikić explores how Engineering and Teaching Shorts (EATS) provides informal, accessible professional development for academic and professional services staff at the University of Sheffield. Established to encourage the sharing of teaching ideas and practical experience, the programme covers topics ranging from inclusive teaching and student wellbeing to digital skills and generative AI. The blog…
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Bridging two worlds: how design-based research can connect engineering problem-solving with educational research
As engineers and scientists venturing into educational research, many face a familiar challenge: how do we apply our systematic, problem-solving mindset to the complex, human-centered world of education? If you’ve ever felt caught between the quantitative precision of engineering and the qualitative nuances of educational research, you’re not alone. Here, Edmund Padget shares his experience…
