Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to present the experience of applying the design thinking methodology in the development of projects during the European Project Semester. Through an interdisciplinary approach, projects of diverse natures were developed by teams composed of students from different areas of education (mainly engineering and design) and from various nationalities, supported by a team of coaches from distinct disciplines, which demonstrated in practice how the integration between coursework and disciplines is essential and works well in project-based learning. The methodology used, its steps, techniques, and methods applied in the development of projects will be presented, as well as the achieved results.
TopBackground
The intense changes that the world has witnessed in recent decades, towards cultural, social and economic globalization in the 21st century, are reflected in education as an object of study, concern, focus, strategy and discussion in all nations of the globe (Facca, 2020). The study carried out by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) highlights that the concept of competences in education goes beyond the acquisition of knowledge, also involving the mobilization of this knowledge with skills, attitudes and values to meet complex demands. Future students will need broad and specialized knowledge plus a wide range of cognitive and meta-cognitive skills (critical thinking, creative thinking, learning to learn and self-regulation), social and emotional (empathy, self-efficacy, and collaboration), as well as practical and physical skills (using new information and communication technology devices) (OECD, 2018). Now and in the years to come, it is fundamental to ensure that motivated young women and men concerned about problems in the developing world continue to enter the field in enough numbers (Facca, Alves, & Barbosa, 2019).
Current challenges faced by engineering education are multiple and hard to address. Institutions and students are experiencing constant changes, including financial constraints, focus shifting and the need to provide and acquire new competences (Malheiro, Silva, Ribeiro, Guedes, & Ferreira, 2014).
The performance of new professionals is closely associated with the improvement of products and processes, optimization and innovation of production management models and Research & Development (R&D) efforts of the companies. By necessity, therefore, higher education requires a central place in the discussions involving the formulation and implementation of strategies for industrial development. They are part of the range of challenges that countries must face to sustain productivity gains and to strengthen their competitive positions in the dynamic knowledge-based economy of the world. The economic growth should be accompanied by a qualitative and quantitative improvement of employment and greater social cohesion. This demands a change in higher education systems, promoting interdisciplinarity, stimulating entrepreneurship, emphasizing the cultural and social involvement of universities, considering the education field as an incubator for the technology-based entrepreneurial talent that will drive economic growth (CNI, 2018).
The world is getting smaller and more complex, but there is more technology, there is more diversity and more intercultural exchange. To address this, today’s young people need to have more intercultural competences. They need to be sensitive to different countries’ organizational and business cultures. They also need to ‘think out of the box’ (EPS, 2021).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Desirability: People's needs and desires, which makes sense to users.
Interdisciplinarity: Integration between two or more areas of knowledge, where one modifies the other. AU8: Reference appears to be out of alphabetical order. Please check
Design Thinking: The designer's way of thinking and acting.
Problem-Based Learning (PBL): Learning method intrinsically based on developing solutions to complex problems.
Empathy: Putting yourself in the other's shoes.
Project-Based Learning (PjBL): Learning method intrinsically based on developing solutions to complex projects.
Viability: What can be part of an economically and financially sustainable business.
Feasibility: What is possible to be manufactured or produced in the near future, with the technology we know today.