Engineering education research in practice: evolving use of open ended group projects as a pedagogical strategy for developing skills in global collaboration

• Autores: Mats Daniels, Åsa Cajander, Arnold Pears, Tony Clear
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 26, no. Extra 4, 2010, págs. 795-806
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Globalization presents engineering educators with new challenges as they face the need for graduates who can function comfortably inan increasingly distributed team context which crosses country and cultural boundaries. Scaffolding learners to acquire professionalattributes which transcend the solely technical places stress on traditional curriculum models. This paper analyses an Open EndedGroup Project Framework (OEGP) situated in an action research program applied within the IT in Society course at UppsalaUniversity. The approach results in conscious evolution of the course as an integral element of its design. It enables flexible plannededucational change informed by a combination of learning theories and stakeholder input. In this paper we discuss the role of theresearch program in addressing the educational challenges we faced assisting students to develop global collaboration skills. Theimplications of combining this course with one at a partner institution in the USA and developing a global collaboration are alsoaddressed. The paper concludes by summarizing the benefits of adopting an integrated action research and OEGP framework tosupport flexible course delivery in a global professional engineering context