Grasping the complex field of interdisciplinary collaboration in education has been an ongoing topic of interest in both research and teaching practice. Research highlights several elements such as common goals (boundary objects), interdependency, shared mental models, trust, mutual respect, reflexivity, epistemological transparency, awareness of discipline specific routine behaviors, quality of communication, stability and construction of the team. However, research also agrees that interdisciplinary collaboration is complex and that educational attempts to create these settings often fail in practice. Further, the literature heavily focuses either on the actors' involvement and actions within the interdisciplinary context or on the structural elements of said context, giving less attention to the interplay and interconnectedness between actors and structures in interdisciplinary collaboration. By introducing the concept of relational space, interdisciplinary collaboration is provided with a holistic approach to understanding the complex system students encounter when participating in an interdisciplinary collaborative space. Through a reconceptualization of L & ouml;w's sociological model within education, this article expands the literature with an integrated perspective of interdisciplinary collaboration in education including both structural and interpersonal elements. By analytically bringing together actors and institutions, the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Space in Education (CO-SPACE) framework enables an examination of interdisciplinary collaboration as a relational participation space. This approach highlights interdisciplinary collaboration as a multidimensional system, including multiple interacting layers and aspects. Institutional structures, social goods and people all influence the "prefixed" space, affecting how students interpret and place themselves and others within the established participation space, in turn determining access possibilities and how power unfolds. The analysis particularly brings attention to the emergence of sub-spaces, temporal dynamics, and knowledge-related access asymmetries.

Anette Kolmos, Jette Egelund Holgaard, and Henrik Worm Routhe from Aalborg University discuss findings from the InterPBL research project and highlight the advantages of interdisciplinary collaboration in engineering education. Sustainability and climate issues can only be understood and resolved through interdisciplinary collaboration across various disciplines. Technological solutions are system-oriented, necessitating extensive collaboration between stakeholders from academia and society. As a result, it is critical that engineering students gain experience and knowledge of cross-disciplinary collaboration. However, interdisciplinary collaboration across disciplinary boundaries is extremely difficult. InterPBL, a research project at Aalborg University funded by the Grundfos Foundation, seeks to improve interdisciplinary collaboration in engineering education. In the InterPBL project, we discovered that the approach to interdisciplinary projects was overly simplistic due to a lack of understanding of the various forms that interdisciplinary projects can take. A framework was created based on empirical data, with six categories of disciplinary and interdisciplinary problem-based projects. These are defined by two dimensions: the type of knowledge, which ranges from disciplines to narrow and broad interdisciplinary problems. Figure 1 illustrates the project collaboration pattern, which ranges from single project teams to multi-teams with multiple student teams working together.

In engineering education, initiatives to establish interdisciplinary learning outcomes increase; however, fewer studies focus on how interdisciplinarity unfolds in engineering practice. This study explores interdisciplinarity in the work of early-career engineers and discusses its potential implications for engineering education, with the research question: How do early-career engineers understand interdisciplinarity, and which competencies do they emphasise in an interdisciplinary work context?Interdisciplinary competencies are a multifaceted concept encompassing the combination of disciplines and expertise, specific and generic competencies, and personal traits. Eight early-career engineers from an international company were interviewed. Their understanding of interdisciplinarity was linked to differences in people, expertise, professional fields, and languages. Different types of generic competencies play a role, with communication and decision-making being particularly important in interdisciplinary collaboration. However, these competencies are often mentioned in combination with personal traits, which this study identifies under three main categories: self- and social awareness, integrity, and action-oriented traits.

In various problem- and project-based traditions, interdisciplinarity is part of the definition, and there have been a few conceptualizations of interdisciplinary projects. However, with the increasing application of interdisciplinary projects, it is necessary to develop a more varied understanding. A recent study in a PBL context defines four interdisciplinary project types, and this article aims to develop a conceptual understanding that can inform the design of project types. To design interdisciplinary project collaboration, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of the disciplines involved. In the literature, we identified three major dimensions: knowledge, culture, and approach to learning, all of which play a role in the understanding of problems and collaboration. Furthermore, it is important to understand the move from the disciplinary to the more interdisciplinary project types. In this regard, problem design and team collaboration are chosen areas to exemplify the complexity of this move. As an outcome of this paper, a conceptual framework is developed combining the three dimensions of disciplinary understanding with the interdisciplinary project types. This creates an understanding of what to take into consideration in a design process moving from disciplinary to interdisciplinary projects, especially in the design of problems and interdisciplinary project collaboration.

In this article, we examine the challenges and opportunities perceived by university staff when planning and executing interdisciplinary activities for students in the problem-based and project-centred environment at Aalborg University. Using a qualitative approach, we interviewed 15 participants from nine pilot projects organizing interdisciplinary activities in higher education. The findings highlight various challenges to interdisciplinarities, such as building common ground to be “comfortable being uncomfortable”, framing and facilitating interdisciplinarity and balancing different disciplines in student recruitment. They also present multiple opportunities, including increased awareness of one’s own professional identity, a positive relationship with employability, the possibility of asking more fundamental questions about disciplinary practice, increased outlook when facing complex problems and the use of problem-based learning (PBL) as a frame of reference for interdisciplinarity. Based on the findings dimensions of educational design that are critical to interdisciplinary activity planning.

Problem- and project-based learning (PBL) is often highlighted as a valuable approach for addressing the need for interdisciplinarity in engineering education. However, studies indicate that applied projects in engineering education tend to be limited to a single discipline. This article presents a new project typology which can be applied in engineering education. The typology is based on an action research study in a systemic PBL environment. The model presented has two dimensions: a) the complexity of teams, ranging from single team to networks of teams, and b) the complexity of interdisciplinarity, ranging from disciplinary projects to broad interdisciplinary projects. This results in the identification of six different project types. This typology can be used as a conceptual framework for interdisciplinary learning throughout engineering education. The project types embrace both single-team projects and larger projects consisting of multiple teams working together on complex problems.

This open access book focuses on discussing methods and directions for better engineering education in the years from 2022 onward

The increasing complexity of societal problems and the need for more interdisciplinary problem-solving in the future raise new demands for future engineering competences. Consequently, competences related to management and leadership must be reconsidered and reflected in both engineering education and engineering education research. This leads to the following research question: In which ways are students' learning of management and leadership articulated and related in engineering education literature? In this study, this research question is answered through a systematic literature review wherein 112 journal articles were reviewed to explore articulations of students' learning of management and leadership competences. The review finds extensive diversity in the literature, with different and sometimes even overlapping articulations of management and leadership in an educational context. Furthermore, the review identifies a difference between implicit and explicit approaches to addressing the development of students' management and leadership competences. Finally, the importance of the mutual interaction between management and leadership is discussed in an engineering education context. It is stressed that moving forward when working with complex problems in interdisciplinary teams requires both change and vision, as well as the tools and plans to actually make it happen.

Engineers in the 21st century will be confronted with complex problems that require new competences to engage and collaborate with other disciplines. New engineering competences, such as leadership across interdisciplinary contexts, necessitate important changes in engineering education. To make such changes possible, however, the development of educational leadership is needed, including the creation of organizational structures and the training of staff to support the development of student leadership skills. This leads to the following research question: What kind of leadership can be identified in interdisciplinary student projects from a faculty perspective, and in which way can the development of students' leadership competences be supported? A model is introduced for different leadership concepts at both the faculty and the student levels. The research, comprising three different subcases, is based on data from 12 semi-structured interviews with members of the staff at the Faculty of Engineering and Science and the Technical Faculty for IT and Design at Aalborg University, where student teams work together on solving complex problems. The interview data was transcribed and coded in NVivo using thematic analysis. Findings illustrate the complexity of leadership involved in the student projects, in which teams collaborated with teams, supporting the leadership model introduced in this research, where examples of shared leadership, emergent leadership and rotating leadership were identified at the students' level. Educational leadership - reflected here in curricular structure, learning objectives, and projects as well as facilitation - is important for supporting the development of students' leadership competences.

AbstractWe invite you to make changes in your engineering programs.

Changing modes of production and emerging technologies and economies require capable employees equipped with a set of diverse competences. These competences are no longer limited to specific disciplines but include broader emphasis on generic competences applicable across various contexts involving a variety of professions. Consequently, collaboration and teamwork are also two central generic competences in engineering practice and pivotal elements in engineering education. However, collaboration and teamwork competences are often only superficially addressed and moreover, not based on students' experience. This study address engineering students' experience of the constituent parts of teamwork competences in a systematic integrated problem-based learning (PBL) environment and how these can contribute to curriculum development. Conducting a thematic analysis of students' written competence profiles (n = 130) results in the construction of five themes concerning students' teamwork competences: finding complementary competences, establishing teamwork culture, preventing and managing conflicts, awareness of self and others and shared situational awareness. Each theme is illustrated by several components emphasised by students and exemplified by excerpts useful for curriculum development or learning activities supporting development of specific competences. The thematic analysis furthermore exemplifies how generic competences are perceived as enablers of disciplinary problem-solving in teams, and how systematically integrated PBL supports the development of a wide variety of teamwork competences. The article concludes that students are acutely aware of team members and their position in a team while maintaining flexibility enabling potential responses to anticipated or unknown challenges found in the internal or external environment of the team.

This work provides inspiration to foster Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in teaching practices related to waste management. Problem-Based Learning is about providing a learning environment where students can work practically and theoretically with problems of relevance for society. In this learning process, students themselves will define societally important problems and direct the problem identification, problem analysis, and problem-solving processes. The PBL approach at the engineering and technical faculties at Aalborg University acts as a case of inspiration to exemplify how the structure of a problem-based project can foster students’ competencies and agency to contribute to a circular economy related to waste.

AbstractIn Chap. 2, this chapter discusses the nuances of complex systems, accentuating that human communications and technology are integral parts of our social systems. Whenever humans are positioned at the centre of any system, complexity emerges. Interventions in complex systems are very difficult, due to feedback loops and their associated time delays and the presence of many interacting components. Each element within a complex system intertwines with others, making any intervention a precarious act, where intervening in a part of the system invariably affects other parts. Engineering education is a complex system, and it is evolving under the new AI technologies. Interventions are required and the relational dynamics among students, as well as between students and educators, are critical axes around which educational experiences must revolve. The dynamic educational ecosystems, burgeoning with myriad informal and formal, verbal and non-verbal communications,shape the educational experience and outcomes in profound ways. Ensuring that interventions do not inadvertently disrupt or diminish these interactional ecosystems requires an adept understanding of the inherent complexity embedded within the educational systems.

Contribution: This research paper contributes to engineering education research with a framework for interdisciplinary learning outcomes based on students' experiences from participation in an interdisciplinary project for engineering students. A theoretical frame of reference is developed to analyze students' experience with interdisciplinary projects. Background: Engineers are important stakeholders in solving complex global challenges, and faculties have a very important role in educating engineers with the necessary competences. However, research finds many challenges when engineering students work with complex problems in an interdisciplinary setting crossing different disciplinary boundaries. Research Question: What cognitive learning outcomes are experienced by engineering students when working on interdisciplinary problem-based projects across engineering disciplines? Methodology: The case study draws on insights from interdisciplinary projects involving students from different yet related disciplines (referred to as narrow interdisciplinary projects) in spring 2022. The study followed 18 engineering groups during the spring semester of 2022. The students were all from The Faculty of Engineering and Science and belonging to the programs: Energy, Materials & Production, and Construction. The students worked together in clusters on different narrow interdisciplinary engineering projects (leadENG). Data was collected through eight qualitative group interviews and observations from meetings, status seminars, etc. Interview data was transcribed and analyzed in NVivo using a data-driven approach and afterward categorized according to the model for learning outcomes. Findings: A list of intended learning outcomes was compiled for students working on narrow interdisciplinary problems in relation to interdisciplinary understanding, reflexivity, enactment, and coordination. The findings highlight the importance of coordination in an interdisciplinary setup and suggest more focus on student leadership in engineering education.

Integration of entrepreneurship in current engineering education emphasises the need for engineers to initiate and drive innovation processes that transform ideas into societal value. Learnings from the history of engineering and the at times unsustainable impact of technology on society have drawn attention to user requirements and the societal context of technological innovations. In addition to this view, entrepreneurial education underlines the need to move beyond reactively addressing user requirements and societal developments to proactively creating opportunities and realising their potential to change societal patterns and trajectories. Grand challenges, such as climate change and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, have indeed confirmed the need for such abilities. This paper argues that when integrating entrepreneurship in engineering education, the pedagogical approach to how we teach entrepreneurial engineering will inevitably have to be revisited. The study aims to explore the facilitation of entrepreneurial projects in a problem-based learning (PBL) environment. Design-based research (DBR) was conducted to codevelop and test guidelines and models for entrepreneurial PBL based on existing PBL approaches. In this process, ten facilitators of entrepreneurial PBL projects were continuously challenged to change their perspective from being facilitators to students and from being practitioners to reflective practitioners. In this paper, we especially report on the part of the study investigating the following question: What challenges do students experience when PBL becomes entrepreneurial? The paper concludes with insights into the nuances of entrepreneurial PBL and closes with a short discussion on the need for more research to ensure integration and not the addition of entrepreneurship in engineering education.

This chapter will introduce the reader to problem-based learning specifically within the realm of higher education. It includes the history of how problem-based learning was established, a discussion of why it is appropriate to use, and the method to establish it within institutions of higher education. The advantages and disadvantages of problem-based learning are explained, and what still needs to be researched (e.g., making problem-based learning equitable for all group participants) so that all college professors feel comfortable using it in their courses and within all disciplines is explored as well. Examples are provided of the types of problem-based learning projects that can be used in a college course as are recommendations on how to incorporate them into a college course.

The development of generic skills and competences has become a central component of contemporary engineering education due to increased societal and occupational complexity. Problem- and project-based learning (PBL) has been highlighted as one of the pedagogical approaches fostering generic skills and competences that are transferable between various contexts. However, the arguments linking PBL and generic competences have mostly been theoretically grounded or based on singular cases of teaching experience. The purpose of this literature review is therefore to present a comprehensive overview of the different types of generic competences documented in a PBL environment. The review includes 28 peer-reviewed articles that have documented engineering students' perceptions of generic skill and competence development. The results reveal either an emphasis in the studies on teamwork, typically combined with a couple of other types of generic competences, or, in a few cases, a narrow focus on problem-solving. The synthesis of generic competences perceived by engineering students in PBL environments furthermore unfolds a landscape of generic competences, which provides a frame of reference to discuss strategies to foster the broad set of generic competences needed for future engineers to deal with the complex societal challenges of our time.

This chapter reviews the application of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in engineering. In comparison with science, engineering embraces both development of scientific knowledge and design of new technology, and, consequently, engineering is aligned with pedagogies which cover both the inquiry and design phases. Problem- and project-based learning (PBL) is one of the learning methodologies which can respond to this need together with design-based learning (DBL). IBL embraces the problem design process, where both PBL and DBL cover both the problem and product design phases. Therefore, IBL can be regarded as an essential part of the broader conceptual understanding of DBL and PBL. Furthermore, all three learning methodologies do have metalearning and collaborative aspects, which are highly relevant for the future of engineering. Engineering is becoming increasingly more complex and with a need of a system approach to contribute to the solution of contemporary sustainable development challenges. There is a need of educating reflective and motivated engineers who can contribute to a sustainable future.