Using Lego® Serious Play™ Processes to Build Responsible Professionals

To be effective in the workforce, engineering and computing graduates need both technical and professional skills. The latter includes, for example, confidence to communicate and work ethically in diverse teams to solve problems. In the Australian National University (ANU) postgraduate programs, the initial development of professional skills is currently embedded in two sequential courses: Professional Practice 1 and 2 (PP2). This Work-in-Progress explores the application of Lego® Serious Play™ (LSP) with PP2 students as they work together to solve real-world problems in project challenges. We adapted and tested the LSP facilitation for its capacity to integrate into the engineering and computing classroom environment and help our students develop the confidence needed to collaborate with their industry partners to solve the project challenge. We measured the effectiveness of our approach using questionnaires and reflections. The evidence-based insights will help to improve curriculum design for professional skill development in engineering and computing and further our understanding of the challenges presented by innovation in science and technology.