Teaching teamwork to transnational students in engineering and technology

Abstract

China is producing over 4 million STEM graduates each year. According to the literature, many of these graduates lack the professional skills that are required by the global job market. Consequently, a new course was designed to help Chinese students cultivate the necessary professional knowledge and practical skills in the field of electronic engineering. The aim of this innovative course was to build experience of working in a team to design and develop a rover that can perform specific tasks. The course’s team project covers areas such as electronic design, sensing, instrumentation, measurement, computing, communications, as well as project management, report writing and technical presentation. The learning outcomes and course details are described herein. Furthermore, feedback from 152 Chinese students y is discussed and. Statistical analysis from surveys completed by 152 students are discussed and compared with a similar learning activity that was implemented in the UK. Contrary to popular misconceptions, the survey’s results clearly show that this team based active learning activity was ideally suited to the culture and background of Chinese students.