TEACHING AND LEARNING MODES FOR DESIGN ENGINEERING

Abstract

Important learning outcomes include students’ ability for effective communication (verbal and written, but also graphical for sketching and data interpretation) and teamwork. The ability to apply a systematic engineering design method to design or re- design technical systems is not stated, yet that capability distinguishes engineers from scientists, and artistic designing from design engineering. It is to some extent related to creativity. Applying a systematic engineering design method includes the ability to use the engineering sciences heuristically for ‘order-of-magnitude’ and ‘what-if’ estimates of future configurations. This requires understanding the physical behavior of phenomena, individually and in their relationships, both by ‘visual feel’ and by mathematical exploration, in a student’s development of expertise. These requirements indicate a need for change in the teaching and learning procedures and methods, departing from the mainly science-oriented lecturing and examination assessment that has been conventional, and therefore changes in the curriculum. A guiding premiss, also valid for design engineering, is formulated by Klaus: ‘Both theory and method emerge from the phenomenon of the subject’.