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.

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.

The purpose of this study was to identify patterns of change in students’ awareness of, interest in and engagement with sustainability issues during the process of acclimatisation to their PBL engineering studies, and to look for differences between engineering disciplines with respect to these aspects. This study used a longitudinal qualitative approach with a theory-led thematic analysis. There were 16 participants in total, interviewed at 3 intervals during a period of 18 months at a faculty of engineering in Denmark. The authors found a pattern of increase in sustainability awareness, interest, and engagement throughout the three semesters of the study. Some differences between engineering disciplines were visible, especially between sustainability-oriented engineering and the others. Most students who increased their sustainability awareness and interest were also likely to engage further with the topic. That engagement built up from individual engagement, to professional engagement and for some, into institutional and public sphere engagement. The findings are timely given the pressure faced by engineering education to incorporate sustainability issues. It provides avenues for educating engineering graduates who will display interest, awareness, and engagement with sustainability issues. It suggests institutional engagement as a potential avenue to explore for engineering educators.

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.

Aalborg University has grown out of a certain educational mindset based on reform pedagogy and German critical theory back in the 1970s. Aalborg University has developed problem and project based learning as the core principles for education at a systemic level. In this chapter, the history and contemporary principles and the educational practices are presented.