Interdisciplinary collaborations between different academic disciplines can create knowledge and solutions to challenges that are beyond the scope of what a single discipline can achieve. However, little is known about how interdisciplinary teams of faculty and graduate students function as a whole and the processes that guide them as they work on…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a consistent and systematic integration framework of sustainable development (SD) in a civil engineering (CE) curriculum, given the connection between the two. Curriculum integration is a challenging project and requires the development of certain protocols to ensure success.…

A graduate profile benchmark developed by a higher education organisation is subject to scrutiny. This occurs through the numerical parameterisation of text collected through surveys and the use of basic concepts drawn from Information Technology. The process uses data processing, analysis and evaluation to show the degree to which established an…

Contribution: While design project courses offer first-year students a practical introduction to engineering, a portion of class time is usually spent on lecturing foundational knowledge instead of practicing engineering design. This article presents a blended design-based learning (bDBL) approach that makes class time more efficient and explores…

Interdisciplinarity has become one of the catchwords in current higher education and science policies, with the underlying rationale being that scientific breakthroughs and solutions to today's global challenges require collaboration across scientific fields. However, several empirical studies have shown that interdisciplinary promises are not…

The aim of this research was to examine the potential of project-based learning (PBL) and everyday life contexts in developing primary pupils' scientific and engineering practices. Multiple data were collected in a Finnish primary school class; pupils were aged 7-8 years. The pupils' practices and creation of artifacts were videotaped and analysed…

The Autonomous Vehicles (AV) are a self-driving vehicle capable of sensing its environment and operating with minimal or no human intervention converting into a fully or partially automated vehicle. These automated vehicles have great potential to revolutionize the automotive industry and our daily lives. Thus, they are receiving a lot of…

The literature on interdisciplinary teaching has tended to stress undergraduate teaching. As interdisciplinary graduate teaching becomes increasingly common, we need to reflect on what graduate students need to know. This article discusses key ideas that all interdisciplinary graduate programs should communicate. In particular, we need to teach…

This paper summarizes our experience of teaching undergraduate robotic courses in the past ten years. The objective is to introduce students to the fundamental knowledge in robotics. Lecture topics covered subjects in both Autonomous Mobile Robots and Robotic Manipulator. In the lab sessions, students work on physical robots to acquire basic…

In Fall 2016, the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) chartered the New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) initiative. NEET aims to educate young engineers to build the new machines and systems that will address societal needs of the 21st century. Students enter NEET in their sophomore year and join…

The EPICS Program was created in 1995 with the dual purposes of improving engineering education and addressing compelling needs within our communities. The model broke with many traditional academic traditions, involving students in multidisciplinary teams of students from first-year to fourth years for multiple semesters or even years on projects…

Although 3D printing (3DP) technology has become an increasingly popular educational tool in recent years, very little is known about the learning benefits of this technology. This systematic literature review synthesized empirical research on learning with 3DP in various educational settings, focusing on publication and study participants'…

Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is a growing interdisciplinary field addressing exposures to microbial pathogens and infectious disease processes. Risk science is inherently interdisciplinary, but few of the contributing disciplinary programs offer courses and training specifically in QMRA. To develop multidisciplinary training in…

This article proposes an alternative (or additional) place for the use of robotics within the secondary school curriculum. Robotics provides a unique opportunity to engage students in genuinely multidisciplinary learning that challenges their misperceptions about the nature of science/technology and engages them with 'big questions'. After…

In this paper we present activities that can help students deepen their understanding of DC circuits and develop practical competences. The students investigate electric properties of commercially available conductive thread and solve a practical design task using the thread. The activities follow the framework of investigative science learning…