Resumen de Project-oriented design-based learning: aligning students’ views with industry needs

Siva Chandrasekaran, A. Stojcevski, G. Littlefair, M. Joordens

• This paper focuses on the alignment of students’ views on project-oriented design-based learning (PODBL) with today’s industrialneeds. A Collaborative relationship between academic institutions and industrial expectations is a significant process towardsanalytical thinking (linking the theory and practice). Improving students’ knowledge as well as the students’ transition intoindustry, requires efficient joint ventures by both learning institutions and industry partners. Project-based learning (PBL) is welldeveloped and implemented in most engineering schools and departments around the world. What requires closer attention is thefocus on design within this project-based learning framework. Today design projects have been used to motivate and teach sciencein elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. They are also used to assist students with possible science and engineeringcareers. For these reasons, design-based learning (DBL) is intended to be an effective approach to learning that is centered on adesign problem-solving structure adopted for a problem-oriented project-based education. Based on an industry design forum,which the authors conducted in Melbourne, Australia in 2012, a research study was performed to investigate the industry andacademic requirements for students focusing on achieving design skills. To transform the present situation in the academic teachingand learning environment and to fulfill industry needs, this research study also investigated the students’ views on design skills.