2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Education serves as a foundational pillar for a country’s economic prosperity and infrastructural development. The rapid emergence and surge of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and automation have catalyzed the Education 4.0 (E.D. 4.0) global landscape, creating the demand for Industry 5.0 (I.D. 5.0) competencies in university graduates. Key I.D. 5.0 identifiers are analytical and creative thinking, transparent communication, and empathy. To meet these skillsets, university curricula at Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) are undergoing a rapid transformation from E.D. 4.0 to E.D. 5.0. However, systematic literature reviews reveal (i) inconsistency among researchers on E.D. 5.0 terminology/attributes, and (ii) rather sparse universal markers of E.D. 5.0 that the pedagogical community agrees on. Following a recent mapping work of I.D. 4.0 to E.D. 4.0 [12], we perform a bibliometric analysis with qualitative and quantitative insights on VOS viewer on the Scopus scientific database to identify (i) elements of E.D. 5.0 currently observed in HEIs, (ii) key attributes to transform from the E.D. 4.0 to the E.D. 5.0 vision (for all fields, and specifically, for engineering and chemical engineering) and (iii) pedagogical strategies/impacts to enable the transform towards the Society 5.0 global vision. Coupled with the use of conscious, ethical Artificial Intelligence tools (ChatGPT, Jasper AI, Copilot, Gemini, etc.) and learning modalities (active/experiential/inquiry-driven, flipped-classroom, etc.) will empower students to individualize learning experiences/outcomes. However, e-learning must be supplemented by open discussions [13], and project-based/textbook-based learning, especially for foundational subjects. Within chemical engineering, core subjects and topics like calculus, transport phenomena, chemical thermodynamics, separation processes, and plant/process design (undergraduate capstone) must be taught through a mix of pedagogical strategies. Our results reveal an increase (especially since 2017, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic [36]) in publications; the shift from E.D. 4.0 to E.D. 5.0 is most observed in computer science, engineering, social sciences, economics, econometrics and finance, and business, management, and accounting. Global South countries (India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia) lead this change than their Global North counterparts (the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe); publication trends show a cubic increase with a strong correlation coefficient (R^2>0.97), anticipating strong future research interest in E.D. 4.0 to E.D. 5.0 research. A synergistic integration of these learning modalities, competencies, and pedagogical strategies into HEI curricula will lead to the realization of E.D. 5.0/Society 5.0. In parallel, Industry 4.0 (I.D. 4.0) is correspondingly transforming to I.D. 5.0, and HEIs need to be mindful and accordingly produce university graduates who are perceived as valuable and can secure lucrative career prospects, in an ever-evolving global landscape. This pivotal work lays out a comprehensive, elaborate procedural foundation to map E.D. 4.0 to E.D. 5.0 (thereby also catalyzing the E.D. 5.0 to I.D. 5.0 transformation) devoid of any a priori assumptions, demonstrating the universal, reproducible nature of our work.