Improving professional skills in a multidisciplinary team of undergraduate engineering students through project-based learning

Even though undergraduate engineering education often considers laboratory experiments as its practical component, these activities may not contribute to the development of soft (professional) skills. At “Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia”, Perú, a series of courses called interdisciplinary projects has been created to promote the development of professional skills through project-based learning; herein, we report the experience of an interdisciplinary group of students focused on designing an indoor air filtration system to improve air quality and to reduce the spread of coronavirus diseases. Eight undergraduate engineering students were organized into three groups and worked collaboratively to learn about antiviral nanocomposites, user-centered design, and electromechanical systems design; they showed their progress and received feedback from each other through weekly meetings. In addition, they leaned on applications to organize the group work and share the bibliography consulted; finally, we collected feedback from these students on the proposed learning method. The positive impact of our problem-based learning approach on undergraduate engineering students is discussed.

How do designers and engineers practice design while Making? A narrative inquiry of designers who Make

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how designers and engineers practice design while Making. Motivated by their roots in constructionist learning principles, Makerspaces are increasingly used as sites to learn design, especially in undergraduate engineering education programs. However, there has been little work on how trained designers Make and how design emerges in their Maker practices. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, a conceptual framework is constructed to identify design practices within Making informed by theories of human-centered design and designerly ways of knowing. The framework is used to analyze narratives of ten experienced designers and Makers to understand how they enact design while they Make. Findings The rich and compelling narratives of the participants support the proposed conceptual framework, providing qualitative evidence for how designers practice and know design while Making. This study also reports on a strong theme of realizing purpose and personal meaning while Making across the participants’ narratives that sheds light on the unique and educationally meaningful value of Making, as in Making being a venue for agentive constructivist learning. Research limitations/implications As an educationally meaningful practice, Making can be explored from several lenses, and this research solely uses a design lens. Practical implications The motivations of the study are twofold. First, to understand how designers practice human-centered design and use design knowledge while Making. Second, to support the epistemological legitimacy of Maker knowledge by establishing connections with design knowledge. Originality/value This paper contributes to the limited body of scholarly work to conceptualize experienced designers’ Maker practices. Work in this area can inform learning outcomes and performance expectations in educational settings.

TEACHING TEAMWORK, ETHICS AND EQUITY, AND IMPACT ON SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT TO UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING STUDENTS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

This paper explores the way in which three graduate attributes have been instructed on, together, in the undergraduate engineering curriculum. In particular, this paper explores how teamwork, ethics & equity, and the impact of engineering on society and the environment are taught together. These three attributes are used as a framing for engineering leadership education to explore how it has been embedded in the curriculum from a graduate attributes perspective. Following systematic literature review principles, this work explores the prevalence and motivations forincorporating these attributes in undergraduate engineering education in Washington Accord signatory countries. Findings indicate that these attributes are not frequently documented as being taught together, and are motivated equally as a design topic as a leadership/entrepreneurship topic.

ENGINEERING INSTRUCTORS AND THEIR TEACHING GOALS, TEACHING PRACTICES AND CONCEPTIONS OF STUDENT LEARNING IN UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

This paper shares the results of a multiinstitutional study examining the teaching goals andpractices of engineering instructors. Through both a survey and a set of interviews, engineering instructors at four institutions in Ontario were invited to share their key teaching and learning goals, teaching philosophy, and the use of teaching and learning activities in the teaching of undergraduate engineering students. Engineering instructors shared a surprising diversity of teaching goals and practices, and through a discussion of powerful teaching activities, a set of conceptualizations around student learning emerged, ordered in decreasingprominence: Students learn through: (1) making realworld connections; (2) application of concepts; (3) interaction with the instructor; (4) interaction between students; (5) independence and ownership and (6) listening to what the professor says and does. These views are all reflected in the diversity of learning theories available in the literature, and in particular situated learning theory, but an understanding of these specific conceptualizations, articulated by engineering instructors, can be used to better support engineering instructors in their teaching, and in the development of new curricular initiatives in undergraduate engineering education. This work expands on the existing literature on teaching in higher education and teaching practices in engineering.