Educational design and online support for an innovative project-based course in engineering design

Iain McAlpine
Educational Development and Technology Centre
University of New South Wales

Carl Reidsema
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
University of New South Wales

A new course in Engineering Design and Innovation used a project-based learning approach to facilitate learning the design process, the development of design thinking and the skills required to solve open-ended design problems. The course involved over 950 first year students, in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of New South Wales.  Students were enrolled in nine schools of engineering in the faculty. A WebCT Vista course was used to support student learning in design teams and to integrate and manage the course. Online facilitation methods were used to support student learning during several phases of the design process. Online peer assessment and review processes were used to encourage reflective learning and be time-efficient for academic staff.  The paper includes survey data from the first offering of the course.

Keywords: design, engineering design, project-based learning, online facilitation, student peer assessment, student peer review