An Experiment in Design Pedagogy Transfer Across Cultures and Disciplines
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
All Science and Engineering Business and Economics Computing Diversity Design Engineering Diversity Engineering Education Research Engineering Management Engineering Technology Entrepreneurship and Innovation General Engineering, Engineering Science Information Systems Information Technology International Engineering Education Mechanical Engineering Software Engineering Teamwork Technology and Society |
| Special Topic(s): |
Cooperative and Collaborative Learning Appropriate Technology Teaching and Learning Research Center |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Reference - Educational Research Paper |
| Media Type: |
Audio |
| Author(s): |
Larry Leifer Philipp Skogstad Rebecca Currano |
| Description: | Int. J. Engng Ed. Vol. 24, No. 2, 2008, pp. pp. 357±366. Abstract: "The pedagogy of project-based courses is notoriously difficult to transfer but in today's global economy it is crucial to be able to teach innovation. Therefore, an experiment was performed to evaluate how a design innovation course could be transferred across cultures, disciplines and institutions. Specifically, a graduate level engineering design course from Stanford University was emulated at the University of St Gallen in Switzerland. The course methodology exemplifies the innovation approach taken by notable companies that represent the innovation success of Silicon Valley. The results obtained from a series of interviews indicate that there is a set of essentials to this pedagogy, which, when transferred, led to similar innovation success elsewhere." |
| Rating: |
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| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | Project-based learning design education design thinking pedagogy innovation education failure iteration motivation |
| Is Component of: |
Design and Engineering Education in a Flat World |
| Usage Tip | |
| Related ABET Criteria: |
Academic Achievement Attitude Change in Attitude Communication Skills Confidence Creative Thinking (b) Design and conduct experiments, analyze and interpret data (c) Design a system, component, or process (d) Work effectively in multi-disciplinary teams (e) Identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems (g) Communicate effectively (h) Understand global, economic, environmental, and societal context (i) Engage in life-long learning (k) Use modern engineering tools in engineering practice Design Skills Engagement Higher Order Thinking Skills Intellectual development Knowledge about Student Progress Leadership Motivation Oral Communication Skills Positive Attitude Problem Solving Skills Professional Skills Student Learning Team Learning Team Skills Teams Written Communication Skills |
| Intervention(s): |
Active learning Case studies Co-op Collaborative/cooperative learning Cross-functional Demonstration Design tools Development of Team Skills Faculty development Faculty/student interaction Inquiry/discovery/hands-on Learning communities Lecture (active) Management skills Mentoring Multidisciplinary Peer assessment Peer review/teaching Performance assessment Personalized system of instruction Projects/project-based Role-playing Self-assessment Software packages Studio approach Team work Teams Use of Specific Teaching & Learning Techniques |
| Use of Resource: |
Conclusions: "The motivation shown by the students, and their assessment of their learning success in this course make a strong point for project-based courses. In such courses, `the information is not presented on a shiny platter' as one student put it, but instead the students are required to learn to find and filter information themselves. Because once the students graduate, there will be no instructor who has already found the few golden nuggets of information needed to complete a specific task, learning this process of realizing what needs to be learned is an important prerequisite for `Lifelong Learning'Ð one of the recently phrased goals of education [1]. The fact that in this course, the students felt like they were given responsibility for the first time is best shown by the statement of a student who commented at the final presentation at SAP that `I no longer felt like a student presenting student work but like a professional presenting and selling a great product'. Similarly, in their evaluations of the course, the two most important questions `How would you evaluate the course overall?' and `How would you evaluate your learning success in this course?' were both answered with an average score of 1.2 out of 5 (1 being the best). One student wrote in an evaluation `This was the best course ever', and during a meeting with the university's administration, the three students present declared in unison `we learned one half of everything we learned in the Masters in this course'. The positive assessment of this project-based course from a pedagogical perspective is underlined by another student, who said `after this course I feel as an adult', referring to the increased ability to tackle large projects. It is important, however, to also understand the limitations of project-based courses." |
| Difficulty: |
Medium |
| Interactivity Level: |
Very low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | February 2008 |
| Platform/Format: |
Cross Platform |
| Cost: |
Not free |
| Download URL: | http://www.ijee.dit.ie/latestissues/Vol24-2/s19_ijee2043.pdf |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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