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A Qualitative Study of a Course Trilogy in Biosystems Engineering Design
Author(s) -
Friesen Marcia,
Taylor K. Lynn,
Britton M.G. Ron
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of engineering education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.896
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 2168-9830
pISSN - 1069-4730
DOI - 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2005.tb00853.x
Subject(s) - curriculum , trilogy , engineering education , mathematics education , engineering , research design , qualitative research , authentic learning , psychology , pedagogy , engineering ethics , computer science , engineering management , sociology , social science , artificial intelligence
Engineering design encompasses professional competencies that complement a solid understanding of engineering science fundamentals, theories, and methods. Engineering schools are increasing their efforts to integrate design into the curriculum, and this paper critically analyses one initiative at a research‐intensive Canadian university, where a three‐course sequence (Design Trilogy) forms the design education backbone in the undergraduate Biosystems Engineering program. Data collection consisted of focus groups with students and one‐on‐one interviews with instructors and industry cooperators. The findings yielded authentic understandings of teaching and learning engineering design, many areas of common perceptions between participant groups, congruence with design concepts in the literature, and areas where students' perceptions and experiences did not correspond to instructors' intentions. Teaching implications include the importance of instructors' transparency and integration in teaching and the need to explicitly prepare students for a different kind of learning experience in the Design Trilogy.