Background: Collaboration--including coordination, communication, and teamwork--is crucial to engineering practice. However, engineering students are often perceived as lacking key collaboration skills at the time of graduation. Purpose: We used structuration theory to explore how differences between students and practitioners' collaboration…

Final year individual projects have always been the culmination of a student's curriculum at university, requiring knowledge and skills gained over the whole course. However, with time, their scope and aim have moved from a more traditional research-oriented one to a more modular structure, where specific skills are demonstrated and assessed. This…

Although innovation is widely recognised as a cornerstone of contemporary engineering, empirical studies consistently show that undergraduate electrical-engineering students lag behind industry expectations in rapidly translating interdisciplinary concepts into functional prototypes. These findings underscore the need to comprehensively reform…

This study investigates and contrasts the final year (capstone) engineering projects at three public universities in Southern Africa: Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), and Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). The research examines their practices, structures,…

Background: Metacognitive processes have been linked to the development of conceptual knowledge in STEM courses, but previous work has centered on the regulatory aspects of metacognition. Purpose: We interrogated the relationship between epistemic metacognition and conceptual knowledge in engineering statics courses across six universities by…

Creative thinking is a key focus in twenty-first century higher education, yet engineering students are often seen as lacking creativity due to traditional training approaches. To address this issue, this study examines the effectiveness of project-based learning (PBL) integrated with Scamper--a creative thinking tool--and Trello--a project…

This study presents a structured hybrid framework integrating Design Thinking (DT), the Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) methodology, and Root Assessment (RA) to enhance project-based learning (PBL) in engineering education. The framework addresses limitations in conventional PBL by embedding iterative ideation, structured engineering…

This study explores engineering design students' perceptions of their agency for sustainability in a Danish problem- and project-based learning (PBL) context. A conceptual framework is proposed with three dimensions: personal, action, and contextual. Q methodology was adopted to investigate the subjective views of 24 first-year undergraduate…

Engineers and planners are central players in creating the built environments and shaping natural ones that make up our communities. They can be a force for creating environments that are just and equitable, and by doing so advance the ideals of environmental justice. But, too often, these professionals are not empowered to create or seize…

Contribution: The proposed operational model offers a detailed framework for understanding the complexities of design thinking. It helps instructors evaluate each stage, promoting the development of high-quality designs. This model emphasizes the link between the various stages and the final design quality, steering students toward achieving…

Challenge Based Learning (CBL) is an educational approach that has gained popularity in response to the need for authentic learning environments. While the CBL literature is predominantly focused on cases of pedagogical implementations, the actual processes by which students develop CBL projects remain under-investigated. This shortitudinal study…

Construction planning is vital to civil engineering projects, involving task coordination, resource estimation, and risk assessment. Traditional educational methods in Engineering management courses frequently lack real-world feedback, hindering understanding of students. To bridge this gap, this study aims to propose an educational approach…

Engineering learners must develop skills to design holistic solutions that take competing and complex economic, environmental, and social factors into account. Yet, these skills are not simply cognitive in nature. To develop holistic solutions, engineering learners must develop their affective attitudes so that they can gain an awareness of…

Previous research has demonstrated that stereotypes associated with the female gender can impact technology and engineering education results. However, it remains unclear whether these stereotypes affect other relevant factors in technology and engineering education performance. The research used quantitative methods to investigate the correlation…

Challenge: The Hodgkin-Huxley membrane conductance model has been featured in biomedical engineering (BME) curricula for decades. A typical BME assignment might require students to apply the relevant equations and parameters to model the generation of action potentials; however, there is opportunity for students to build and explore both…