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In addition to developing deep knowledge of a single discipline, engineers must also be able to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries and develop interdisciplinary expertise to successfully address the complex challenges of the contemporary workplace. While numerous descriptions of interdisciplinary courses and projects appear in the literature, educators still lack rigorous research about learning barriers, outcomes, and concrete interventions to support this interdisciplinary development. This paper addresses that gap by pairing a review of the literature with a case study of students in a sustainable engineering program to identify the key challenges to success in interdisciplinary contexts. The findings suggest that students (1) lack the ability to connect interdisciplinary subjects to their own more narrowly defined fields of expertise, and (2) fail to identify and value the contributions of multiple fields to complex problems. This paper concludes with possible teaching interventions to address these barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of engineering education for sustainable development. In an attempt to facilitate a better integration of sustainability teaching into the engineering curriculum, it seeks to provide answers to the following fundamental questions: (1) How much do engineering students know about sustainable development? (2) What are the knowledge gaps? (3) What could be the best approach to educating engineering students for sustainable development? Some answers to the first two questions have been provided by carrying out a world-wide survey of engineering students on their level of knowledge and understanding of sustainable development. The survey results suggest that, overall, the level of knowledge is not satisfactory and that significant knowledge gaps exist. However, an encouraging result is that students believe that sustainable development is important for engineers, although they often have difficulties in making a direct link between the theory of sustainable development and engineering practice. To address the third question, the paper then discusses the implications of these findings for the engineering curriculum. It also illustrates an approach to teaching sustainability that could help to stimulate students' interest in this subject during their studies and to ensure their commitment to practising sustainable engineering later as professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern working environment it is essential for a structural engineer to have an understanding of abstract concepts in structural behaviour and an ability to use them qualitatively. This paper presents the findings of a study on how effectively students acquire such conceptual understanding within a new project/design focused degree course. The new degree programme is described. The first-year students experience a mixture of learning opportunities, including model building/testing, laboratories, workshops/tutorials, and lectures. In the second year there are two design exercises but no formal structural theory course. Specific concepts-based learning material was introduced into the first-year course at mid-semester and the effectiveness of this examined by tests and interviews. The performance of the first-year students is compared to that of the second-year students. The findings show that there is good student engagement and satisfaction with the course and that basic skills are successfully being acquired throughout both years. However, the study highlights areas where concepts are not being adequately developed in the first year and subsequently show little enhancement in the second year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]