Mini workshop — Designing project-based courses for learning and cost-effective teaching

This workshop draws on experience in the international collaboration for engineering education reform, called the CDIO Initiative, where project-based learning is a key part of the concept. The purpose of project-based courses in engineering education is to provide environments where students can develop a deeper working knowledge of technical fundamentals together with the complex skills necessary for engineering practice, or in short: where students can become engineers. In this workshop, the learning perspective is emphasized, by identifying trade-offs where there are inherent tensions between learning outcomes and other factors in project-based courses (such as project goal, product performance, technical sophistication, teacher popularity, student satisfaction). A set of principles are derived for enhancing learning and teaching in project-based courses, using concrete examples to illustrate thought-provoking implications. Each principle aims to improve both student learning outcomes and cost-effectiveness of teaching. Together the principles constitute a framework for learning-driven course design. The aim is to challenge assumptions and common practices in project-based courses, and provoke fruitful discussion among participants.