Development And Evaluation Of An Undergraduate Multidisciplinary Project Activity In Engineering And Design

Abstract

The School of Engineering and Design Multidisciplinary Project (MDP) at Brunel University is a one week long project based activity involving first year undergraduate students from across the School subject areas of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Design.

This paper describes the main aims of the MDP and gives an overview of how it has developed over the last four years to become a key part of the engineering undergraduate programme at Brunel University. The paper then presents an in-depth evaluation of the MDP, following the collection of 114 survey responses from students across all four subject areas and all four academic years that have participated in the activity, to assess the impact of the MDP on the student learning experience throughout the period of undergraduate study.

The paper also discusses feedback about the MDP obtained from the relevant professional bodies that accredit Brunel University undergraduate engineering programmes, and representatives from the Brunel Placement and Careers Centre, to assess their opinions of the usefulness of the project activity in developing key transferable skills and enhancing the employability of Brunel graduates.

The findings of this study will ensure the continued success of the MDP in future academic years and also provide a case study of a large scale multidisciplinary group project teaching activity that may prove useful to those considering or currently developing such activities at other higher education institutions.