Abstract:

On entering the workforce engineering graduates will deal with a great range of problems some of which are not technical engineering problems at all. Examples include working as part of a larger group, project management, negotiation, component sourcing and an awareness of the multi-disciplinary nature of engineering. Such real-world problems force graduate engineers to draw on their professional and personal resourcefulness, adapt to on-the-job pressure, cope with people problems and broaden their knowledge base. The current economic climate puts additional pressure on engineering graduates to contribute to companies as soon as they are hired and reduces the time available for graduates to develop such skills on-the-job.

To help students develop real-world engineering skills as part of their engineering education the Mechanical Engineering Department in Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) introduced a Problem Based Learning (PBL) module four years ago. This PBL module, introduced for Third Year Mechanical Engineering students at DIT, was designed to help students refine their soft skills in addition to a deeper understanding of their technical skills. The approach gives students an opportunity to develop and apply a range of experiences which will prepare them to contribute to their employer on taking up employment with a company.

For a variety of reasons alternative assessment methods have recently been considered. The paper begins with a brief description of the module as structured and assessed over the last four years. This is followed by an outline and rationale for the alternative assessment methods proposed. The students’ perspective regarding both the module in general and alternative assessment methods in particular is reported.

Keywords:

problem based learning, assessment.