1. Faculty of Engineering, UoS
Mission Impossible? Engaging 1500 students in project weeks to develop “global skills”, and they get no credit!
Dr Trish Murray (University Teacher) and Prof Rachel Horn (Faculty Director of Learning & Teaching)
Faculty of Engineering, UoS
GEC…

2. EYH video
GEC

3. The next 15mins! Our aim What we did Two weeks 5 things!
Some help please?
Any questions…

4. Our aim…

5. Work on complex, real world (engineering) problems
Work in multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural teams
Tackle open-ended problems
Follow a problem-solving process (engineering design)
Understand the context (global/ end user)
Work on complex, real world (engineering) problems

6. What we did…

7. Credit = 0 Work in multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural teams
Problem-based learning
One intensive week
Train PhD students as facilitators
1 facilitator/36 students (a Hub)
Hub rooms
Whole year group in faculty = 1500 students
Teams of 5/6: different disciplines & home/ international split.
Work in multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural teams
Tackle open-ended problems
Credit = 0
Understand the context
Follow a problem-solving process
Teaching knowledge: short videos by the knowledge experts bounded by facilitator led, context appropriate activities
Teaching a process: model the process by way of a case study

8. Two weeks…

9. Projects from industry/staff:
2nd year week
Projects from industry/staff:
Make homes “smarter”
Commercial electric aircraft Augmented reality for extreme sports
1st year week
Projects based on Engineers Without Borders Challenge
Design an electrical supply infrastructure based on renewable energy sources
Design a smart greenhouse

10. 5 things we think have been key in making the weeks work…

11. 1. Involvement of alumni/industry
Opening plenaries
Both Wednesday
Judge the Friday presentations (EYH only)
Experience
Credibility
Employment role models
Endorsement of the week
Each day:
EWB: Last 1.5 hrs
Peer review: half way through and

12. 2. Regular feedback Boardrooms What is being judged When
Who gives feedback
Short team presentations
Various
Facilitators
Team behaviours (not all students; research project at the moment)
3 days
Observers
“Best Professional Behaviour” (team award)
Wednesday boardroom
Alumnus/ Industry
Individuals team working and contribution
Mid week
Team members
Most Engaging team Presentation
End of week
All Hub (GEC) / The Board involving Industry
Final team report
Each day:
EWB: Last 1.5 hrs
Peer review: half way through and

13. 3. Cascade teaching PhD students as facilitators
Short videos by subject specialists
Case study to model the design process
Activities help progress teams through their problems
Team Google folders with collaborative docs
Explicit alignment of: Report template with prompt questions/ case study / assessment criteria
Each day:
EWB: Last 1.5 hrs
Peer review: half way through and

14. 4. Team accountability Students choose projects individually first
Small teams (5 or 6)
Named Daily Team Leader with responsibility for daily deliverables
Peer assessment (mid-week and at end)
Each day:
EWB: Last 1.5 hrs
Peer review: half way through and
Google team documents for collaboration / evidence and passing of responsibilities

15. 5. Differentiated achievement
Its not just about credit but recognition!
1. Team outputs
2. Peer assessment
3. Attendance
Pass / Distinction

16. Has it been a success?

17. Student opinion at the end of the week (end of semester 1, end of Jan)…

18. At the end of GEC 2017 (by online individual questionnaires)

19. Student opinion at the end of their year 2/ year 3 and year 4…

21. But how do we do better evaluation?

22. Would the students see that at the time?
“Students learnt the most about teams when they were in teams where one person failed to show up”
Would the students see that at the time?
Evaluation of a skill? “Rate how confident you feel …”
How reliable is self-evaluation?
“I hated it at the time but it has been really useful in job applications …”
When do we evaluate?
Skills (e.g. giving and using feedback) that help in the rest of their degree…
Looking back and teasing out what was learnt and where?
Challenging not
Some will never like 9-5 days and zero credit.

23. Thanks for listening! Questions?