Development of an Innovative Learning Environment for Engineering Education

In this paper a new concept for engineering education is being presented. It is the result of a study which consists of two parts and has the goal to create an innovative learning environment which increases the motivation and supports the development of competences of the students through job relevant, practical tasks.

The first part of the study comprises a redesign of a laboratory session, which is part of a Thermodynamics module. Thermodynamics is one of the core modules of mechanical and energy engineering degrees, dealing with very abstract concepts. To bridge the gap between theory and practical application a real-life problem should be integrated into the module. To do so, a laboratory session has been redesigned using a problem-based approach. In order to evaluate the new approach a longitudinal study was carried out at three different points in time. The results of this part of the study have been used in the second part of the study which is conducted as design-based research. This paper describes the first phase of the design-based research process resulting in the development of a prototype design for the new learning environment. In this design the university building is integrated in the education by creating an engineering consultancy where the students are the project engineers analyzing the energy supply system of the university building to identify energy saving measures. With this prototype design realistic tasks can be integrated in the education and competence development is being supported. The approach is a chance for future engineering education for sustainable energy use and helps to modernize engineering education.