Abstract:

Engineering in the contemporary world is complex, necessitating the need for engineers to relate to society’s ‘wicked problems’ - many of which are gathered under the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition to this, new technoscientific and information-based challenges are continuously arising. These changes call for a new approach to engineering education which acknowledges that an abundance of information is easily accessible to learners and therefore those learners require the skills to extract necessary knowledge, as opposed to traditional lectures conveying a predetermined array of presumed relevant facts. This newer approach also calls for learners to work in inter and transdisciplinary teams on complex problems, recognising their discipline’s role and the role of others in solving the given problems.

It is understood that the technical content of an engineering degree must remain. However, this paper proposes that the methods of teaching and the contexts in which engineering education is delivered need to change to build the necessary skills for society today. Rather than an educator-focused model where the learners are passive, a constructivist learning theory is suggested. This theory is founded on the premise that, by reflecting on their own experiences, learners “construct” their own understanding of the world. Learners who are conscious of their active role in learning are better equipped for engagement in multi and transdisciplinary projects. Such self-awareness paves the way for these students to advance towards becoming proficient and comprehensive transdisciplinary learners. From this perspective, teaching is less about delivering information and more about facilitating students’ active engagement in building their own knowledge. The paper elaborates on how teaching methods such as problem and project-based learning, experiential learning, and service learning, facilitate active learning in an inter and transdisciplinary format in engineering education.

The literature describes how females, among other minority groups in engineering, prefer context and therefore favour multi– and transdisciplinary work. Adapting engineering education in this way therefore also holds the promise of increasing diversity in the classroom, and ultimately in the engineering field.

Keywords:

Engineering Education, Interdisciplinarity, females in engineering, project-based learning, experiential learning, service learning, gamification.