Teaching and learning design engineering: What we can learn from co-curricular activities

Abstract

A gap exists in the effective teaching and learning of design engineering. The Design graduate attribute is one of 12 attributes developed by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board to which Canadian universities must comply across engineering curriculum. This paper discusses how student run design-build-test-compete co-curricular activities meet CEAB Design graduate attribute indicators using the example of the SAE International Collegiate Design Series (CDS) team at Concordia University, Concordia SAE. Advantages, challenges, and recommendations are made for integrating aspects of the co-curricular platform into existing academic infrastructure in the interest of attributing accreditation units to this type of design experience. This approach would improve accessibility by providing all students the opportunity to participate in co-curricular-like activities, improve resource allocation to co-curricular activities, and improve student engagement and motivation in engineering design learning.