Survey of Failure in Engineering Education and Industry

Abstract

Students have failure experiences in the project-based learning but they do not profess their experiences. On the other hand, failures and accidents, in the industrial world, are analyzed frequently, and a knowledge data base on failure and QC activities have been introduced. To turn failure experience in education to advantage, the authors survey the properties of failures in project based learning and views of students, teachers and managers of design divisions in companies. Teachers and students regard failure experiences as instructive and acceptable. The typical causes of failure in educational institutions are luck of skill in manufacturing and inadequate planning, which are minor causes of failure in the industry. To establish a knowledge data base on failure in educational institutions, properties of failure in education should be taken into account.