Interdisciplinary project-based learning: experiences and reflections from teaching electronic engineering in China

Fan, H., Xie, H., Feng, Q., Bonizzoni, E., Heidari, H. , McEwan, M. P. and Ghannam, R. (2023) Interdisciplinary project-based learning: experiences and reflections from teaching electronic engineering in China. IEEE Transactions on Education, 66(1), pp. 73-82. (doi: 10.1109/TE.2022.3186184)

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Abstract

Continuous developments in the electronics industry have led to constantly changing career roles and graduate skills requirements. Students in the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) have complained that numerous courses in electronic engineering are heavily focused on theoretical knowledge that is disconnected from the needs of the industry. Thus, in an effort toward delivering student-centered educational programmes that meet the needs of the industry, this article introduces an innovative course that was developed using the project-based learning (PBL) method and situated in the electronic engineering undergraduate programme at UESTC. Since real-world engineering projects require teams to collaborate on ill-defined problems, we focused this innovative course on developing professional and technical skills, drawing from a range of more typical electronic engineering courses. We provide full details of two projects that were created for this PBL approach and evaluate them as practice examples that demonstrate the impact of this practical pedagogic innovation in UESTC. According to our evaluation, completed by all 40 of our enrolled students, our innovative course based on interdisciplinary PBL exercises demonstrated a significant improvement in student satisfaction and 65% of students preferred the interdisciplinary PBL course in comparison to traditional lecture-based courses.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:The work of Hua Fan was supported by Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Important Projects under Grant 2022YFG0164, supported by the Open Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices under Grant KFJJ202006, supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under Grant ZYGX2021YGLH203, and supported by Intelligent Terminal Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province under Grant SCITLAB-1001.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:McEwan, Dr Michael and Ghannam, Professor Rami and Heidari, Professor Hadi
Authors: Fan, H., Xie, H., Feng, Q., Bonizzoni, E., Heidari, H., McEwan, M. P., and Ghannam, R.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
University Services > Student and Academic Services > Academic Services
Journal Name:IEEE Transactions on Education
Publisher:IEEE
ISSN:0018-9359
ISSN (Online):1557-9638
Published Online:19 July 2022
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2022 IEEE
First Published:First published in IEEE Transactions on Education 66(1): 73-82
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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