Roger Lewis Mechanical Engineering

1. The ‘Real' Effects of Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Teaching on Your Time and Student Development Roger Lewis Mechanical Engineering

2. Outline • Introduction • The Need for Collaborative Teaching • Mech Eng DMM Teaching Group • Interdisciplinary Collaboration (Holbeck (now Neepsend!) Interdisciplinary Project) • Lessons Learnt/Hurdles • Student and Staff Benefits • How Can You Successfully Team-Teach?

3. The Need…. • Increasing student numbers…. • Reduce individual workload on modules • Support new staff • Use the right expertise • Enhance not assure quality • Broaden student experience

4. Design, Management and Manufacturing Teaching Group • Mech Eng split into four teaching groups • DMM the largest – most core modules to teach – lots of students – group work etc. • Streams of design, manufacturing and management teaching – all independent – culminate in Group Design Project in semester 6

5. DMM Group Evolution • We used to meet twice a year to discuss exam papers and quality assurance but this was insufficient • Conscious decision by the group to become a true team • Weekly meetings between sub-groups • Fortnightly meetings with all the members • Days of quality assurance had gone; the days of quality enhancement had begun

6. What did we do? • Looked at streams and content • Benchmarked – UK and International • Team building • Made links • Shared best practise

7. New Team Activities • Engineering applications (EA) • 1st and 2nd year design modules – involvement in each other’s modules • Group Design Project (GDP) • and now collaboration in teaching design in the Integrated Design Skills Module

8. GDP in the Past… • Organised by one academic • No real customer; fictitious design brief • Students were not getting the kind of experience they should be on such a critical module • Decided to deliver the Group Design Project as a team

9. GDP Now… • All DMM group contribute – 1 lecture (on their area of expertise); mentor a group • Real customers; real design brief (Siemens, Bergman Direct, Sunrise Medical…) • Staff time optimised • All academic staff involved in final assessment day along with industrialists

10. assessment Assessment individual portfolio group poster group report individual interview group presentation individual poster

11. Case Study • Design and development of wheelchairs and assistive technologies • Invited guest speakers with expertise in issues related to disability and old age • Reverse engineering sessions • Workshop where students were able to dress up in third age suits

13. Interdiscplinary Collaboration – Sustainable Design Teaching • Introduce teaching on Design for Sustainability across a number of faculties (developed in collaboration with Arup and VP) • Introduction of the basic concepts in early years • Building to an Interdisciplinary Group Project in years 3 or 4

14. RAEng Visiting Professor in Engineering Design for Sustainability Scheme • 3 year scheme (initially) • Industrial partner Arup • Departments involved: • Civil and Structural Engineering • Mechanical Engineering • Town and Regional Planning • Architecture • Landscape

15. Interdisciplinary Group Project • Civil Engineering, Architecture, Landscape and Town and Regional Planning • Case study site – Holbeck Urban Village (now Neepsend) • Mixed groups work on plan to redevelop Holbeck • Site visit • Introductory lectures – industry experts • 3 interaction days to do work

16. Holbeck Urban Village

17. Holbeck Site

18. Module Assessment • Interim assessment – site layout • Final poster and presentation

19. Student Feedback • “I did enjoy learning about the other disciplines, what they do and what they put into a project” • “the project taught me to listen more and respect other discipline views” • “working with students from other departments was long overdue” • “you can sit back and look at your notes and revise for an exam, and forget about it after a month, but with this, you’ll remember it when you go into a job”

20. Lessons Learnt/Hurdles • Work needed to build a collaborative team • Champions are needed (particularly for interdisciplinary work) • Good co-ordination required • Rules on communication with students critical • Teaching space hard to find….

21. Staff Benefits • Feedback on teaching • Sharing good practice (internally and between disciplines) • Social side • Ultimately time saved • Contributions to the university’s LTAS and developing the ‘Sheffield graduate’

22. Student Benefits • Enriched module • Range of teaching and assessment styles • Real world experience – industrial projects, cross-discipline working • Real experience of pressure (very short time-scales!) • Increased employability

23. How can You Successfully Team Teach? • Assess what you want do (scale!) • Set-up regular formal and informal dialogue with colleagues • Allow people into your modules (don’t be too possessive of your teaching) • Look for opportunities where large scale team-teaching could be applied with real benefits: • Big modules, lots of students • Range of course material, learning objectives, assessment methods • Support is available • Eng Faculty now looking at possibility of all students participating in a project!