Teamwork is a central component of engineering education, particularly within UK programmes where project-based collaboration is widely embedded. Despite the large presence of Chinese students in these environments, limited research has examined how they interpret and navigate teamwork in intercultural settings. This study investigates how Chinese engineering postgraduates understand and adjust to collaborative practices in UK universities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 Chinese students, and the data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings reveal four interconnected patterns: students encountered general teamwork challenges such as uneven contribution and unclear expectations; they experienced language-related barriers that constrained participation; they navigated differences between Chinese and UK educational norms that shaped communication and role positioning; and they gradually developed better collaborative competence over time. The study highlights the need for engineering programmes to provide clearer guidance on teamwork expectations, scaffold intercultural communication, and create structured opportunities to promote their engagement. By foregrounding the perspectives of Chinese engineering students and drawing on an insider-informed interpretive approach, this research contributes to ongoing discussions about diversity, inclusion, and non-technical skill development in global engineering education. The findings reveal four interconnected patterns: students encountered general teamwork challenges such as uneven contribution and unclear expectations; they experienced language-related barriers that constrained participation; they navigated differences between Chinese and UK educational norms that shaped communication and role positioning; and they gradually developed better collaborative competence over time.
We examined the views of first-year students (N = 102), university staff (N = 46), and company representatives (N = 15) concerning the importance of and attitudes towards transferable skills in engineering. Data were gathered from a questionnaire, and statistical methods were utilized in the analysis. The groups shared similar views concerning the order of importance of transferable skills: critical thinking was evaluated as important, whereas awareness of political and social issues was ranked with low figures. Statistically significant differences were absent between students and university staff, but company representatives rated 12 of 38 skills as lower importance. The groups had positive attitudes towards learning and assessing transferable skills, but significant differences emerged in views concerning the importance of these in comparison to technical academic knowledge/skills, developing these in extra-curricular activities, and giving credits for developing these. We suggest that companies' views be considered when integrating transferable skills into curricula.
This study investigates the framing, implementation, and experience of role-play and challenge-based learning in design projects, and what aspects of authenticity they reveal in two Swedish upper secondary school engineering courses. In two different schools, students were to assume the role of engineering professionals and organise work with different roles and areas of responsibility, and act in suitable ways when interacting with 'customers' and 'managers'. Observations and interviews with students and teachers revealed themes related to weak and strong role assignment and authenticity concerning learners, activity preparation, cross-cutting, and discipline-specific obstacles. Findings indicate that while role-playing is not necessarily equivalent to authentic engineering scenarios, it fulfils a substantial and situated learning process that may simulate real-world experiences, making it a compelling component of future engineering education. The study contributes novel knowledge on authenticity and challenge-based learning in engineering education, in particular, how teachers and students perform and perceive such projects.
Introductory programming is a foundational course in engineering education, yet many students struggle to connect coding exercises with underlying theory. Standard lab instructions often lead to superficial engagement, with students copying code without deeper conceptual understanding. Socratic questioning can foster critical thinking and self-explanation, but is rarely applied consistently due to constraints in teacher availability and dialogue skill. This study introduces the Socratic Butler, a dual-role AI chatbot that guides students through question-based dialogue while providing instructors with insights into student progress. A quasi-experimental design was implemented involving 95 electrical engineering students divided into three groups: Socratic Butler, conventional chatbot (ChatGPT), and no-chatbot control. Students using the Socratic Butler showed significantly higher learning performance and metacognitive awareness than the other groups. They reported greater cognitive load, due to the reflective effort required. These findings support dual-role AI tools to foster deeper conceptual engagement and provide scalable engineering education support.
This study explores how engineering educators perceived their readiness for change in adopting Project-/Problem Based Learning (PBL) through participating in an international faculty professional development programme involving 40 educators from Indian universities. Using Q methodology, four distinct collective viewpoints emerged: 1) PBL enhances student learning and employability; 2) PBL offers personal benefits for both students and educators; 3) PBL strengthens teaching competence with institutional support; and 4) PBL improves student learning with leadership support. Participants reported diverse perceptions of change readiness, valuing student benefits, personal growth, or institutional support to varying degrees according to their institutional contexts and personal priorities. These findings highlight the importance of systemic strategies and supportive institutional culture in addressing the various needs of educators and fostering their readiness to implement PBL effectively.
Intercultural group work (IGW), where students from different cultures work together, can play a crucial role in contributing to international and group work learning outcomes, yet presents significant pedagogical challenges. Despite this, the teacher perspective has largely been overlooked in IGW research. This qualitative study takes a multilevel approach to the planning of IGW at two European universities, focusing on the teachers. Data sources include interviews with programme and course managers and documentation from international to course level. The results highlight the extent to which multilevel learning outcomes and teacher purposes for group work influence the planning of IGW, exemplified through choices around group forming, facilitation and assessment. A conceptual framework has been developed, highlighting the dynamic interplay between context and group work planning, and emphasizing the importance of both the structural setting and human interactions. The findings underscore the necessity of considering context in future IGW planning and research.
Challenge-based learning (CBL) is an educational approach that emphasizes co-creation among students, educators, and external stakeholders to address real-world, interdisciplinary challenges. While CBL effectively engages students, it also requires coordination across disparate stakeholders, posing organizational challenges that remain underexplored in existing literature. This article addresses this by examining how expectations are aligned among stakeholders in three CBL courses at a technical university in the Netherlands. Drawing on Niklas Luhmann's systems theory, organization is conceptualized as a process of decision-making grounded in shared expectations. Narrative case analyses were developed and synthesized using causal loop diagrams to visualise feedback-driven processes of change. The study finds that early alignment - particularly between educators and challenge owners - supports long-term success but must avoid rigid deliverable fixation to preserve CBL's open-ended nature. Managing expectations is shown not as a constraint but as a necessary condition for meaningful collaboration, contributing to more sustainable and coherent CBL ecosystems.
