Research at ECE

The ECE School is to establish a comprehensive research platform and environment in the field of scientific communication technology and learning. Today there is little research in this field, scattered over various KTH schools. KTH will, by 2014 at the latest, have a nationally-recognized research platform for scientific communication technology and learning with a teaching and research faculty. ECE school's own staff and teachers combine shared services within KTH and with other universities to establish the desired link between the ECE-school and with other national and international research environments.

ECE school will conduct research on Technological Learning in the broadest sense. The whole community is involved in technological learning in various forms: from the primary school technology subject to university engineering courses for technical proficiency. The research goal is to ultimately improve the quality of engineering education at all levels and thereby strengthen the position of Sweden as a technology nation.

Here are some areas of research within education and communication in engineering science in which the ECE school may conduct research:

Engineering education
The focus in higher educational research is placed on the development and quality assurance of engineering education at KTH on the program level, as well as helping KTH assume a leading position in the field of engineering education. Within the next few years at least two doctoral students in technological learning will obtain PhD degrees with a focus on engineering education. For a rapid start, ECE School will also recruit a visiting professor. ECE School offers graduate students from other schools at KTH the opportunity to carry out parts of their doctoral work in engineering education. Read more about research on higher educational research.

Technology Education
The contents of the subject of Technology in schools has varied throughout the years and has had a very wide scope with everything from craftsmanship to engineering skills put together under one roof. There is no clear academic equivalent of the subject yet, which is considered to be one of the major problems of the subject. In this area, the ECE School's research raises questions about how the subject has developed and where it is on its way, with the aim to give the subject its academic space. The area includes great opportunities to interact with technology, philosophy, and technology and history of science at KTH. Within the next few years, there will be 1-2 PhDs and a visiting professor. Read more about research on Technology Education.

Teaching and learning in the subject Technology and Engineering sciences
This area of research deals with the conditions and opportunities of technology learning. The research is expected to answer questions such as: What do students learn when they are taught in technology? What does technology as a subject require compared to other subjects such as science? The aim of this type of research is to both develop and test models for technological learning. The area includes the entire range of types of education, from preschool up to university education. There are good opportunities for coordination with technology didactics and NV-didactic research groups in the country. The school has a visiting professor in this area, specifically in the field that focuses on Technology Education for the younger ages. A higher position will be filled with a focus on university didactics. Four graduate students are expected to defend their PhD theses in the next few years on teaching and learning in technology, Enquiry Based Learning and learning studies. To further strengthen this area, an internationally-recognized visiting professor will be involved in the research activity. Read more about research on Technology Education.

Communication and learning
The ECE school will conduct research at the intersection of communication and learning. Issues to conduct research include: How does communication affect learning? How important is the learning process when you communicate?

One area that is researched is how well communication works in projects which aim to encourage young people to develop an increased interest in science and technology. Activities at the House of Science form an excellent research subject where there is opportunity to study students' behavior after having been in contact with science and/or technology where there is learning and communication. Within the next few years there will be an established lectureship and a number of PhD projects carried out in the field. Read more about research at the House of Science.

Information Science
The Research Information at the ECE school aims to increase understanding of the technical and social aspects of organization and communication of structured information, especially information relating to material that is relevant to libraries and education. The research results could be used to simplify the reuse of library materials in the classroom and to improve the quality of different types of database searches. Read more about research at Information Retrieval and Learning.

Bibliometrics and scholarly publishing
It is becoming increasingly important that research should be made visible and measured. To measure research, a variety of methods have been developed to, among other things, measure the number of citations. Bibliometrics and publication analysis is therefore a priority at KTH. The ECE school will develop research activity in bibliometrics to meet the university’s needs of analysis, and to invest in education and research in the area. Bibliometric research is the quantitative studies of scientific communication. Using bibliometric methods, we can map and describe the visibility, influence and research collaboration. Read more about research at Publication.

Information retrieval and learning
Information retrieval and learning has a unique combination of high subject knowledge and excellent relevant system platforms knowledge for Swedish universities. In addition to knowledge databases, the unit possesses broad knowledge within the subjects taught in most engineering programs at KTH. Information retrieval and learning plans to utilize this unique expertise in the context of ECE mission to conduct research on science researchers’ information retrieval behavior, citation habits and publishing strategies. The projects are in the broad fields of Education and Information and bordering areas of user studies, theoretical information retrieval and bibliometrics in library science. Read more about research at Information Retrieval and Learning.

Applied Linguistics
Research in applied linguistics in the field of LSP, Language for Special Purposes, should be initiated and the possibility to search internal and external funding be explored. It is also planned to initiate collaborative projects with other parts of KTH and with external parties. Read more about research at Language and Communication.

Internet-based learning
Initiation of research on interesting approaches in Internet-based learning can be developed in collaboration with the CSC School at KTH. An example of a question in this context is how successful educational and dramaturgical models and methods used in computer game environments can be used to improve university learning. Another example of a research area is online coaching of students, something KTH has received acclaim for around the world. The ECE School also sees opportunities to conduct research in the field of ICT to support teaching and learning in collaboration with other schools. Read more about research at Learning Lab ICT and at the Resource Centre for Net-based Education.