A STUDY OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS COLLABORATIVE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT SKILLS IN THE UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING CURRICULUM

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in the use of technologies by educational institutions and students. Use of technologies for educational purpose have taken different dimensions to improve student learning and success. More specifically, engineering education focusses on methodologies that aid development of Industry4.0 skills in students. Engineering design and manufacturing industries are shifting more towards computational tools and are operating in a global sector. With this shift, students should learn to integrate their technical skills with computer skills and also learn to work in a collaborative environment. The use of software tools to aid teamwork and effectively carry out group projects are becoming integral part of engineering curriculum. Due to factors such as conflicting schedules, geographic separation, different learning styles, and different backgrounds, students have always struggled working on group projects. Establishing strong communication channels and thereby building strong teams to work on group projects has been a challenge for faculty members and instructors teaching those courses. Recent technologies have led to the invention of virtual communication that can be enabled through online collaboration tools. These online collaboration tools help students build a working model of working towards the successful completion of their projects. This thesis conducts a state of art analysis of how present day engineering education addresses the computational needs and incorporates Industry 4.0 skills. A conceptual study on the use and impact of computational tools and the use of online collaboration tools in the engineering education was studied. Students and Instructors from different engineering and computer science students were administered in the study and the data obtained from the research was analyzed.