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Niels E ik Ruan Lyngdo , Lykke B ogaa d Be el and Euan LindsayA ma ix o making sense o digi al compe ences in o mal enginee ing educa ion cu icula -
10.5821/con e ence-9788412322262.1262
doi:10.5821/con e ence-9788412322262.1262
A MATRIX FOR MAKING SENSE OF DIGITAL COMPETENCES IN
FORMAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION CURRICULA
Niels E ik Lyngdo 1
Aalbo g Uni e si y
Aalbo g, Denma k
ORCID 0000-0001-8737-0044
Lykke B ogaa d Be el
Aalbo g Uni e si y
Aalbo g, Denma k
ORCID 0000-0002-1460-2905
Euan Lindsay
Aalbo g Uni e si y
Aalbo g, Denma k
ORCID 0000-0003-3266-164X
Con e ence Key A eas: Cu iculum De elopmen , Enginee ing Skills, Li elong
Lea ning.
Keywo ds: cu iculum design, digi al compe ences, enginee ing educa ion, p oblem-
based lea ning
ABSTRACT
In his pape we p esen he de elopmen o a ma ix used o assis s udy boa ds
and s akeholde s in embedding digi al compe ences in o hei enginee ing cu icula.
The ma ix was de eloped by e iewing exis ing amewo ks o digi al li e acy and
compe ency a he ci izen, uppe seconda y and highe educa ional le els and
modi ying hem o sui he con ex o p oblem- and p ojec -based lea ning (PBL) in
enginee ing educa ion. The ma ix d aws oge he h ee ca ego ies o digi al
compe ences (gene al academic compe ences, p oblem-based lea ning
compe ences, and discipline speci ic compe ences) and an in e dependen
axonomy o digi al compe ences (use compe ences, de elopmen compe ences
and e lexi e compe ences), esul ing in a ma ix o nine dis inc ypes o digi al
compe ences. The esul ing ma ix makes accessible he concep s o digi al
compe ences enabling di e en s akeholde s in he cu iculum design p ocess (s udy
boa ds, indus y ad iso y bodies, s uden s e c.) o make meaning ul con ibu ions o
he cu iculum de elopmen p ocess.
1 Co esponding Au ho
N. E. Lyngdo , [email protected]
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1 INTRODUCTION
In he a e ma h o Co id-19 lockdowns, online semes e s e c., a ocus on digi al
compe ences and gene al digi aliza ion o highe educa ion ha e ecei ed enewed
a en ion wo ldwide. In Denma k, mos majo comp ehensi e uni e si ies ha e
ecen ly ( e-)de ined s a egies o u he digi aliza ion o co e p ac ices, bo h a he
o ganiza ional in as uc u e le el and ac oss he main ac i i ies o esea ch,
eaching and lea ning. In mos cases, his includes a e ision o cu icula o
implemen ing lea ning goals o digi al compe ences. Wi hin enginee ing educa ion
so a , he e has been an inhe en endency o a end mo e o echnical digi al skills,
such as modelling and o he use and de elope skills in ela ion o echnology.
Howe e , o e ime digi al compe ences ha e de eloped om being ega ded as
pu ely ins umen al o echnical skills since digi al echnology has pe mea ed mo e
and mo e aspec s o li e. To u he de elop s uden s’ digi al compe ences and digi al
p ac ices, including p ac ices ela ed o he de elopmen o PBL skills, such as
p oblem o ien ed, in e pe sonal, o ganiza ional, and me acogni i e compe ences [1],
a cu iculum e ision is necessa y, guided by and g ounded in heo y and
amewo ks o digi aliza ion, PBL and cu iculum de elopmen .
A Aalbo g Uni e si y, cu iculum de elopmen in ol es inclusion o di e en
s akeholde s, such as he uni e si y s udy boa ds, which a e comp ised o in e nal
academics and s uden s, as well as mee ings wi h s akeholde panels including
indus y pa ne s, ep esen a i es om ele an o ganiza ions, o he ela ed
educa ional ins i u ions, alumni, egional and municipal councils. Each o hese
membe s b ings a aluable pe spec i e o he cu iculum design p ocess; howe e
no all ha e an in-dep h heo e ical unde s anding o he amewo ks in ol ed. To
acili a e he con ibu ion o all membe s, we e iewed he exis ing amewo ks and
expanded hem o i he pu pose o implemen ing digi al compe ences in highe
educa ion enginee ing educa ion cu icula. The esul ing ma ix makes complex
concep s o digi al and PBL compe ences mo e accessible o all s akeholde s in he
cu iculum design p ocess, as well as p o ide a amewo k and sha ed language o
discussing enginee ing s uden s’ digi al compe ences and digi al p ac ices ac oss
di e en highe educa ion ins i u ions as well.
2 FRAMEWORKS AND CONCEPTS OF INSPIRATION
I can be di icul o dis inguish he abundance o exis ing amewo ks and concep s,
especially o non-expe s. Fu he mo e, he concep s a e o some ex en ied o
speci ic domains, iden i ies, o p o essions, such as ci izens, educa ion, and indus y,
each o which need di e en digi al compe ences.
Concep s include e.g., digi al compe ences, digi al li e acy/li e acies, c i ical digi al
li e acies, digi al skills, digi al key compe ences and mo e [2]. A e iew o he wo
mos commonly used concep s, digi al li e acy and digi al compe ence, has shown
ha digi al li e acy has been linked o echnical “know-how” ia cogni i e skills bu
also social p ac ices and p oac i e engagemen , whe eas digi al compe ency is o en
linked o compe ences ela ed o alues and e hics, bu o en also expands o include
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o he a eas owa ds p o essional con ex s, such as highe educa ion eache s’ abili y
o use ICT in lea ning ac i i ies [2].
The di e en oles and cha ac e is ics ha digi aliza ion can ake ha e al eady led o
ideological deba es conce ning he pu pose and di ec ion o he digi al u u es o
uni e si ies [3]. This is also illus a ed by he lack o heo e ical amewo ks guiding
he p ocesses o implemen ing digi al and ans e sal compe ences in highe
educa ion. F amewo ks ha e been de eloped o p ima y and seconda y school
le els and ci izens in Denma k and EU by esea che s, and na ional and
sup ana ional councils [4,5]. Howe e , in highe educa ion, including he di e en
disciplines and modes o educa ion, mainly local, mo e gene ic amewo ks a e
a ailable, some o he mo e p ominen being he JISC p ojec [6], Nea Fu u e
Teaching [7] and STAK [8].
These amewo ks o med he basis o he ma ix p esen ed in his s udy [9]. F om
STAK, we adop he ollowing de ini ion o digi al compe ences: “Academic digi al
compe ences a e exp essed when s uden s combine digi al echnology, esea ch
me hodology, and domain speci ic knowledge a he same ime and wi h he same
pu pose; and when he h ee aspec s suppo and complemen each o he [au ho s’
own ansla ion].” [8]. DigComp 2.2 [5] was used o discuss he unde s anding o
axonomy. Whe eas he DigComp 2.2 amewo k is based on a axonomic
unde s anding o p og ession om use compe ences ( emembe ing, unde s anding)
o de eloping and e lec ion (applying, e alua ing, c ea ing), ou amewo k ega ds
'use', 'de eloping' and ' e lec ion' as dis inc ca ego ies each inco po a ing hei own
axonomic le els. The esul s o his wo k we e coupled wi h he wo k wi h digi al
compe ences o ci izens and in p ima y and uppe seconda y school in Denma k by
Danish IT [4], which highligh s h ee di e en ca ego ies o digi al compe ences:
use , c ea o , and e lexi e compe ences ha a e pa ly o e lapping and mu ually
dependen . Thus, hey a e no hie a chically o de ed, bu a he in e dependen , and
compe ences wi hin all h ee ca ego ies a e needed. The h ee ca ego ies co e :
 Use compe ences: needed o he use o echnology, ha is o know and
unde s and digi al ools, access and e alua e in o ma ion, and las ly manage
in o ma ion e icien ly.
 C ea o compe ences: enabling a pe son o c ea e using digi al echnology,
ha is o e.g., p oduce, assemble, p ocess, and exchange in o ma ion o a
speci ic ask and epu pose digi al elemen s. In an enginee ing con ex , his
would include compe ences ela ed o collabo a ion, design and de elopmen
o IT-sys ems, analysis, modelling and s uc u ing o da a and da a p ocesses,
i.e., o use algo i hms and models o desc ibe phenomena and p ocesses.
 Re lexi e compe ences: enabling indi iduals o ac wi h awa eness o
possibili ies and isks when using and c ea ing digi al echnology. This also
ela es o handling e hical and legal issues, being able o c ea e and p esen
onesel in digi al spaces as in ended and unde s anding how digi al
echnology a ec socie y.
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3 THE FINAL MATRIX
These h ee ca ego ies o digi al compe ence u he mo e need o be coupled wi h
and con ex ualized wi hin domains o s uden lea ning. A Aalbo g Uni e si y, he
cu iculum is s ongly PBL based, which means ha a hi d ca ego y is added o he
dis inc ion be ween ‘gene al’ academic compe ences and domain o discipline-
speci ic compe ences; namely PBL compe ences:
 Gene al academic digi al compe ences such as sea ching, collec ing, sha ing
and p ocessing in o ma ion, c ea ing and using da abases, p oducing and
dissemina ing knowledge in di e en o ma s, i.e., compe ences ypical ac oss
academic lea ning en i onmen s.
 PBL compe ences such as p oblem-o ien a ion, in e pe sonal skills,
managemen and leade ship skills, and me a-cogni i e compe ences, i.e.,
compe ences needed speci ically in p oblem-based p ojec wo k.
 Domain-speci ic digi al compe ences such as modelling, simula ion, g ouping
o da a and o he s ha a e ha a e ypical o a speci ic discipline o
p o ession.
The dis inc ion be ween he h ee ypes o digi al compe ences is essen ial o
cap u ing he complexi y o digi al compe ences and help guide he ocus on he
pu pose o each o hese compe ences, and he con ex s in which hey will be used.
The inal esul is a 3 x 3 ma ix ha syn hesizes he amewo ks o he di e en
domains o digi al compe ence, making hem accessible o non-expe s in
digi aliza ion and PBL o con ibu e hei pe spec i es o he cu iculum design
p ocess. A copy o he ma ix is ep esen ed below in able 1 wi h gene ic examples.
Table 1. Copy o he ma ix wi h gene ic examples
Gene al academic
PBL-speci ic
Discipline/domain
speci ic
Use e.g. li e a u e sea ches and
use o academic da abases
e.g. using digi al ools o
imp o e he eam’s ime/
esou ce managemen
e.g. use ools o sol e
discipline-speci ic p oblem
C ea o e.g. w i ing epo s and
making p esen a ions
e.g. c ea ing a
collabo a i e hyb id
wo king en i onmen
e.g. designing new digi al
solu ions o discipline-speci ic
p oblem
Re lexi e
e.g. e lec ing on how o
main ain mo i a ion in
online/hyb id eaching
e.g. e lec ing on how
online communica ion
a ec s g oup dynamics
and con lic managemen
e.g. e lec ing on how digi al
solu ions migh b ing new,
unin ended p oblems
The adap ed amewo k now o ien s i sel owa ds highe educa ion and especially
uni e si ies using PBL o simila s uden -cen e ed educa ional models. The mul i-
dimensionali y o he amewo k allows o e lec ion on he complexi y o digi al
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compe ency in highe educa ion and o e s s a , s uden s and s udy boa ds a poin
o depa u e o analyzing exis ing lea ning ou comes and o c ea ing a sha ed
language and p ac ice a ound u u e digi aliza ion wi hin hei discipline. The ma ix
also acili a es he elici a ion o eedback and inpu om ex e nal s akeholde s.
4 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
This pape has p esen ed he de elopmen o a ma ix ha builds on and inc eases
accessibili y o complex concep s and amewo ks ha can be challenging and ime
consuming o unde s and. The ma ix he eby helps o include in e nal and ex e nal
s akeholde s in he p ocess o de eloping cu icula by enabling hem o con ibu e
wi h hei iewpoin s on complex concep s in ela ion o digi al and ans e sal
compe ences, i.e., PBL compe ences. The ma ix can be o use, o inspi a ion, o
o he s who a e acing he same p ocess o implemen ing digi al compe ences in
highe educa ion cu icula in he nea u u e. While his pape has p esen ed he
de elopmen and heo e ical backg ound o he ma ix i sel , u u e wo k will include
epo ing on he p ac ical applica ion o he ma ix in cu iculum de elopmen
p ocesses and iden i ied po en ials and challenges as well as he mapping and
analysis o he ypes o compe ences ha esul ed om wo king wi h he ma ix.
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