International Experience for Freshman Engineering Students through Multi-National Global Design Projects

Ivan E. Esparragoza

The Pennsylvania State University

Outline

Introduction and Background

Planning the International Collaboration

Multi-national Collaborative Design Project

Difficulties and Benefits

Students Assessment and Response

Conclusion and Final Remarks

Introduction

Establishment of new regional economic alliances.

Almost all major corporations now operate globally.

Engineers are being challenged to: Design and develop new products for a global market Work with multinational teams Provide service to international customers Work in multinational corporations

Introduction

Globalization implies that engineers must be prepared to face the new world.

Incorporating multi-national design projects is a very effective practice to expose the students to the international experience .

The new technology available for communication has facilitated the implementation of multi-national projects with teams disperse in different countries .

Introduction

This work summarizes the first experience introducing multi-national global design projects in the freshman engineering design and graphics course.

The impact of this idea in the engineering students.

The advantages and difficulties in developing the international collaboration.

Background

Penn State Delaware County is part of the Penn State University system.

This is a commuter campus which offers the first two years of engineering.

The student population is formed mainly by local residents who are non-traditional students. Students hold part-time or full-time jobs while in the school No previous teamwork or design projects experience No knowledge of foreign language

Background

Recognizing for the future engineer the importance of: Diversity Worldwide market Multi-national teams, and Global design

Incorporate multi-national design projects for freshman engineering students on this campus.

Background

Partnership:

Universidade Federal deJuiz de Fora, Brazil

University Park Delaware County

Universidad AutonomaDe Occidente, Colombia

Planning the International Collaboration

Selection of the Courses: PSU – Engineering Design & Graphics UAO – Basic Design UFJF – Voluntaries

Academic Calendar: PSU – Second half UAO & UFJF – Mid & First half

Time Zone US-COL Same EST after two weeks US 1 hour ahead US-BR Brazil 2 hours ahead after two weeks 1 hour ahead

Planning the International Collaboration

Selection of the Students: PSU – Engineering Design & Graphics (Freshman) UAO – Basic Design (Freshman) UFJF – Voluntaries (Sophomore)

Language Requirements: English has been extensively used as a common language

for international collaborations and it was used as the official language for this initiative

Collaborative Tools: MSN messenger and Skype were used for the AV

conferences and chatting PSU cms used for exchange of files and information.

Planning the International Collaboration

International coordination Contact of instructors Coordinating schedules Selecting the project Interaction multi-national

teams Technology for

communication

Local coordination Technical resources Forming local teams Delivering the project Provide time for AV

conference

Task to be accomplished:

Planning the International Collaboration

Collaboration Network:

Multi-national Collaborative Design Project Methods of structuring international projects:

Type Description Length

Case Studies The single reporting of the final result of a design project to their opposite group.

One time

In-class experience

Show and Tell Work in separate projects in the different countries and come together to progressively explain to the other teams how the work is developing

Short term

In-class experience

Parallel Teams The student teams in each country work independently on the same design proposal. Students are encouraged to

share data and ideas.

Short term

Multi-team projects

Integrated Teams Students in each country work together on a joint design project.

Long term

Out of class professional project

Multi-national Collaborative Design Project Scheme structure for international project: parallel

design.

Week Activities

1 Establish personal relationship among the students and share their understanding of the problem.

2 Discuss the local development of the problem and the local ideas for design objectives.

3 Share selected solutions.

4 Share sketches and CAD drawings.

5 Assessment of the solutions.

Multi-national Collaborative Design Project Description of the design project:

The design of the mounting (support) system for a portable electronic warning sign for road emergencies which is easy to carry in the trunk of a car.

Following the parallel design projects scheme, students were allowed to work independently on each location.

Students were asked to share information and data with their international.

Difficulties and Benefits

Difficulties:

Time: time zones, schedules, delivery Language: translators Technology problems Resistance from the students to work with other

teams More work for the instructor

Difficulties and Benefits

Benefits:

Global design: more diversity International collaboration Cultural awareness: value of cultural differences in

design Teamwork: multi-national teams Communication skills Collaborative tools Fun into engineering courses Recruitment and retention

Students Assessment and Response

It is very important for the instructors to determine the impact and effectiveness of the global design projects and the international collaboration in reaching the learning outcomes set at the beginning of the process.

It is also critical to have the students’ perspective about this experience in terms of the structure and its implementation.

Students Assessment and Response

Students were formally evaluated by grading their final design and their participation in the international collaboration.

Students were also asked to assess the global design project.

Team assessment

Individual assessment

Students Assessment and Response

Team assessment: Number of times they had AV conference with their partners Number of time they had contact, besides the AV

conference, with their partners Number of times they discussed the problem and possible

solutions with their partners

The first revealing issue was that one team had at least five contacts with the international partner while the other team reported two including AV conference, chat sessions and e-mail exchange

Both teams reported technological problems for communication.

Students Assessment and Response

Individual assessment: Most of the students found very interesting working with

international students. All the students consider that this was a pleasurable

experience Many students reported that was somehow confusing what

their teams have to do with the global assignment. However, there was a group of students that understood the process from the very beginning.

By a simple majority students found more or less difficult to work with international teams. The others found not much difficult.

Students Assessment and Response

Individual assessment: Students placed language constraint as the number one

thread for this type of collaboration. No interaction beyond the AV conference was placed as number two and technical problems as number three

The majority of the students reported they would like to do more projects like this.

All the students think engineers must learn to work in distributed teams.

The majority of the students consider this experience helped them to be prepared to work in distributed teams.

Students Assessment and Response

Despite of the language constraint, the technical difficulties, the lack of experience and the few interactions of some participants, the overall experience was very positive for the students and the instructors.

It was also observed that students found the global design project more motivating than previous local projects.

Conclusion and Final Remarks

This first global design project experience provides the bases for the commitment of this campus to offer an international experience to the freshman engineering students.

The overall response of the students participating and the effort of the instructors coordinating this initiative contribute to a successful practice.

Conclusion and Final Remarks

Some of the issues to be considered for future alliances: Coordinate the schedules and meeting times with the other

participants ahead in advance. Try to start this type of collaborations with a number of

teams that can be easily managed. Assign specific activities for the AV conferences or chat

meetings and request a written progress report to keep the students engaged in the project.

Incorporate global design projects as part of a course and assign a grade to the project.

Collaborative tools: technology might be a problem in this type of initiatives. Have always a backup plan in case that a technological problem arises.

Conclusion and Final Remarks

The benefits discoveries in this type of projects are significant to the students and the instructors.

Students: Teaming international partners New friends Valuable international experience

Instructors Broader view of engineering education Links with colleagues for future exchange and research

collaboration