Preparing Engineering Students for the Challenges of Interdisiplinary Design Teams

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

The purpose engineering education project is to conduct a mixed methods research study to identify factors that lead to successful interdisciplinary collaborations, and to determine how to bring those factors into undergraduate engineering curricula in ways that more effectively prepare students for interdisciplinary work. Using a Concurrent Triangulation Design, the PIS will gather and synthesize data from three sources: industry professionals, university faculty, and engineering undergraduates. In doing so, they plan to address three major areas identified by the NSF-funded Engineering Education Research Colloquies: 1) "Engineering Thinking, Knowledge, and Competencies," 2) "Learning to Engineer," and 3) "Engineering Assessment Methodologies." Concurrent Triangulation Design, allows the research team to compare the opinions and experiences of various groups (engineers, faculty, students and their non-engineering collaborators) and to represent each while reducing bias. At least one educational intervention will be administered and assessed. They will focus on collaborations in which participants from multiple disciplines benefit not only from the products of teamwork, but also from the process. In such teams, team-members work together in a way that moves beyond simple division of labor, learn from working in other disciplines, and generate integrative ideas and solutions. Variability in the kinds of models based on different disciplinary configurations is anticipated, and the goal is to find transferable concepts that contribute to a unified theoretical model of interdisciplinary collaboration that can later be applied to a wide range of educational settings. The results from this project will illuminate factors such as a) attitudes and meta-knowledge, b) strategies for soliciting and exchanging information, c) approaches to collective decision-making and problem solving, and d) peripherals such as corporate cultures, physical space, and management styles. The PIs will collect, analyze and integrate quantitative and qualitative data from practicing engineers, engineering faculty members and undergraduates to develop a clear picture of learning objectives and outcomes for successful interdisciplinary design teaming.