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Internationalisation in Engineering- Showcasing the Global Engineering Challenge

Rachel HornSenior University Teacher, Department of Civil Engineering

Trish MurrayUniversity Teacher, Faculty of Engineering

University of Sheffield Faculty of Engineering

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The next 20 mins…

• The Global Engineering Challenge – an overview– Drivers– Aims– The challenge– Obstacles & solutions

• Evaluation:– Staff and facilitators– Students

• Summary

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Drivers

Synoptic learning

University L&T Strategy

Cross-faculty inter-

disciplinary interactions

International / global

dimension

Employability & skill

awareness

Global Engineering Challenge

Development Process

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Employability

FoE Depts

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Aims of the weekSkill development: • global, professional, academic, employability –Multi-disciplinary, multi-national team-working–Global / sustainable / cultural / ethical awareness–Independent learning–Problem-solving–Plagiarism –Communication / presentation–Understanding the purpose of and using feedback–Reflection on own learning–Career planning

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Challenges• Space in the timetable / curriculum– The removal of the January exams (where possible)– Not credit bearing, but compulsory

• Not onerous for staff– Not credit bearing– Assessment in the week – no additional marking– Use post graduates as facilitators

• A vehicle for the skills development– EWB Challenge project

• Support (financial and other)– 10k for setup– 30k for running costs

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ChallengesNot credit bearing, but compulsory

Assessment in the week – no additional marking

Inspire the students!Interactive and FUN

Set it up wellRelevant (employability, sponsorship)Encourage competitiveness (prizes)

Topic (EWB projects) inherently of interestFollow through from the week (EWB National competition)

Pass / fail by attendance / participationSanctions / assignments for non-participation

Peer assessment of presentations using clickers

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Global Engineering Challenge Week

900 students• Groups of 6 students in hubs of 36

~150 groups = 25 hubs,

• Multi-disciplinary – 9 ‘departments’ in faculty

• Multi-national – approx 1/3 international each group ~4 home, 2 international

• Hubs led by PG facilitators

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Global Engineering Challenge Week

• Mon – Fri 9am – 5pm• Independent project work (hub rooms) interspersed with

interactive facilitated sessions –Intro & finale (1hr each)– 3 large lecture theatres–PG facilitator-led sessions – hub rooms – top & tail the day• Project / engineering & skill-development

– Team building, problem-solving, sustainability, communication

• Skills awareness- 22 alumni and 5 external speakers– Staff involvement in hubs

• “Assessment” by group presentations – peer marking using “clickers” in two categories “Best

communicated solution” & “Best overall solution”

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Making it happen

• A small team (4) of highly committed individuals with shared vision and different/overlapping areas of responsibility

• Employed 3 undergraduates as “resource developers” over the summer

• Tested materials on students and reworked• All L1 students were issued with individual “clickers”• Invested in the recruitment and training of facilitators• Staff buy in

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What we think went really well

• The students were very engaged (largely)• The team working• The mid-week alumni session• The quality of the final presentations• Attendance at 4pm on a Friday!• The facilitators

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Student Evaluation

• Before and after using Blackboard/clickers• Questionnaire• Focus groups

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What was the best thing in the week (free text response)?

• “team working and meeting new people” (over 50% of responses)

• “working on real problems” (second significant response)

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What motivated you in the GEC week? (select as many as is appropriate)

Opp to rep UoS in EWB Challenge

Winning a prize

Being the best group in the Hub

Interested in the topic

Helping the people of Devikulam

Becoming more employable

Becoming a better engineer

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

InternatEuropeanHome

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Motivations

• All students are motivated by becoming a better engineer

• Home students (UK and European) also by becoming more employable– ***International students: already stand out by virtue

of studying overseas• UK students less interested in “Helping people of

Devikulam”– *** Don’t believe that the projects will help Devikulam

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“Which sessions/activities do you think will BE USEFUL in terms of your future as a student engineer and as a graduate engineer

(you can select more than one answer)?”

Reflection and career planning *2

Peer review and using feedback *2

Employers presentation *3

Global issues lecture *3

Professional responsibility and ethics *2

Careers with alumni *2

Peer rev & group presentations *2

Team building *2

Problem solving and project design *2

Sustainable development issues *2

Effective communication *2

Project working *1

Final presentations *2

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

UK

European

International

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• All students found project working useful• UK students: – found giving presentations the most useful

• International students: – Found more sessions useful – Team working useful

• ***more appreciated to aid in integration in the team• ***less prior experience

– Global issues and Problem solving and Project design useful• *** more globally aware

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Summary9am – 5pm

Applicability to all depts in Engineering – COM

Limited time / student attitude

International – home interactions

Facilitator selection & training

Project based

Board rooms

Alumni

Employer comments & student interview anecdotes

Journalism students video

Weds pm

Project choice

Facilitators for cascade teaching

Communication to students

Registration

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How did it go?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UUrGjFtkXc&feature=youtu.be