Interdisciplinary Problem-Based Projects for First-Year Engineering Students
- Conference
- Location
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Minneapolis, MN
- Publication Date
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August 23, 2022
- Start Date
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June 26, 2022
- End Date
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June 29, 2022
- Conference Session
- Page Count
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17
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--40898
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/40898
- Download Count
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315
Paper Authors
Maiken Winther Aalborg University
Maiken Winther is currently employed in a PhD position at Aalborg Centre for Problem Based Learning in Engineering, Science and Sustainability under the auspices of UNESCO. Maiken holds a M.Sc. degree from Aalborg University, and has for the last two and a half years been a part of the Aalborg PBL Centre with a specific focus on teaching and research. Her main interests are on complexity and interdisciplinary collaboration in PBL environments, developing new approaches and methods for students to progress and transfer disciplinary PBL competences to complex interdisciplinary settings.
Henrik Routhe Aalborg University
Henrik W. Routhe is educated M.Sc.EE (1989) and Graduate Diploma in Business
Administration (Organization) from Aalborg University. He is currently employed as PhD fellow at the Aalborg Centre for Problem Based Learning in Engineering Science and Sustainability under the auspices of UNESCO. Prior to entering research in 2016, he has 30 years of experience as engineer, project manager, consultant and director at a vocational school. His current research interests is focused on engineering education research and more specifically in knowledge transformation, interdisciplinarity, organization, leadership, project management and PBL competencies.
Jette Holgaard Aalborg University
Dr. Jette Egelund Holgaard is Associate Professor within the field of Sustainability, Technology and Organizational learning at the Department of Planning; Aalborg University. She has a M.Sc. in Environmental Planning and a Ph.D. in Environmental Communication. Both degrees are from Aalborg University. Dr. Holgaard is affiliated to the Aalborg Centre for Problem based Learning (PBL) in Engineering Science and Sustainability under the auspices of UNESCO, where she makes use of PBL frameworks to enhance engineering education with a specific focus on employability and sustainability. She has more than 130 publications related to these fields.
Anette Kolmos Aalborg University
Anette Kolmos is Professor in Engineering Education and PBL, Director for the UNESCO category 2 Centre: Aalborg Centre for Problem Based Learning in Engineering Science and Sustainability. She was Chair holder for UNESCO in Problem Based Learning in Engineering Education, Aalborg University, Denmark, 2007-2014. Guest professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology 2012-2017. President of SEFI 2009–2011 (European Society for Engineering Education). Founding Chair of the SEFI-working group on Engineering Education Research. Was awarded the IFEES Global Award for Excellence in Engineering Education, 2013 and the SEFI fellowship in 2015.
During the last 20 years, Dr. Kolmos has researched the following areas, primarily within Engineering Education: gender and technology, project based and problem- based curriculum (PBL), change from traditional to project organized and problem- based curriculum, development of transferable skills in PBL and project work, and methods for staff development. She is Associate Editor for the European Journal of Engineering Education. She has been supervising more than 20 PhD students and has more than 310 publications. She has been member of several organizations and committees within EER, national government bodies, and committees in the EU.
Abstract
This research paper presents an interdisciplinary project setting for first-year engineering students. A theoretical frame of reference is suggested to support curriculum design for interdisciplinary competences in engineering education. Empirically, the study draws on insights from a narrow interdisciplinary curriculum project named “leadENG”. Besides being significant on its own in terms of learning outcomes within faculty borders, the leadENG project is intended to act as a bridge-building project to prepare students for broader cross-faculty projects. This study follows a second semester cluster of groups from energy and materials and production, all working together on the creation of a sustainable vehicle using recycled materials. Data have been collected through three explorative qualitative interviews with 15 students and 4 observations with the entire group of 35 students. Interview data have been transcribed and thematically analyzed in NVivo. Findings indicate that students found the new narrow interdisciplinary setting highly relevant in expanding their understanding and approaches to sustainability and interdisciplinarity. Students experienced having a better and deeper understanding of their own discipline by weighing it up against another discipline and could see the meaning and dependency of contributions and collaboration with the other project groups. Although students still experienced different challenges and difficulties, this study indicates that narrow interdisciplinary projects combining different fields of engineering disciplines in a system perspective can be fruitful in the progression of students’ broader interdisciplinary competences.
Winther, M., & Routhe, H., & Holgaard, J., & Kolmos, A. (2022, August), Interdisciplinary Problem-Based Projects for First-Year Engineering Students Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40898
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