Wo kshop
Recommended ci a ion: Cai ns, M., Pick, L., McCa an, C., & Cunningham, E.
(2025). Explo ing S uden Co-Design o Final Yea Majo P ojec Modules. In
Kangaslampi, R., Langie, G., Jä inen, H.-M., & Nagy, B. (Eds.), SEFI 53 d Annual
Con e ence. Eu opean Socie y o Enginee ing Educa ion (SEFI), Tampe e,
Finland. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17631437.
This Con e ence Pape is b ough o you o open access by he 53 d Annual Con e ence
o he Eu opean Socie y o Enginee ing Educa ion (SEFI) a Tampe e Uni e si y in
Tampe e, Finland. This wo k is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons
A ibu ion-NonComme cial-Sha e Alike 4.0 In e na ional License.
Explo ing S uden Co-Design o Final Yea Majo P ojec Modules
M J Cai ns a,
1
, L T Pick a, C D McCa an a,
E Cunningham a
a Queen’s Uni e si y, Bel as , No he n I eland
0009-0002-1934-0075
0000-0003-0629-4698
0000-0003-4079-6843
0000-0003-2555-7705
Con e ence Key A eas: Enginee ing skills, p o essional skills, and ans e sal skills.
Imp o ing highe enginee ing educa ion h ough esea ching enginee ing educa ion.
Keywo ds: PBL, P ojec Based Lea ning, Final Yea P ojec s, S uden Pa ne ship,
Co-Design
ABSTRACT
Final Yea Majo P ojec Modules (MPMs) a e key componen s o enginee ing
deg ee p og ammes, gi ing s uden s he oppo uni y o de elop a wide ange o
compe encies including: echnical, in e pe sonal, o ganisa ional, planning, analy ical
and isk assessmen skills, alongside in e p o essional compe ence and e hical
sensi i i y (Pica d e al., 2022). Al hough p ojec s p o ide a mul i ude o bene i s o
s uden s, hey can p o e challenging om an ins i u ional poin o iew, and many
adminis a i e challenges a e associa ed wi h acili a ing p ojec s. These include
pai ing p ojec ields and supe iso s wi h s uden s, and ensu ing ha p ojec scopes
and s uden wo kloads a e ai and equal ac oss coho s. Assessing p ojec s can
also be complex, as i in ol es ensu ing s uden s a e c edi ed o hei e o s while
main aining assessmen in eg i y and a consis en app oach o app aisal.
Op ionali y, in some o m, o en ea u es du ing he MPM p ocess. Wi hin he School
o Mechanical and Ae ospace Enginee ing a he au ho s’ ins i u ion, s uden s a e
p esen ed wi h a lis o p ojec s, designed and ou lined by academics wi hin he
school. S uden s ank se e al p ojec s in o de o p e e ence and a e assigned
p ojec s ia an algo i hm. S uden s wi hin he school a e also o e ed he oppo uni y
o sel -p opose a p ojec , o pa icipa e in an indus ially backed p ojec . This op ion
has no had a high up ake om s uden s, and he au ho s’ a e keen o explo e why
1
Co esponding Au ho
M J Cai ns
mcai [email protected]
his is he case. This wo kshop aims o hos an in e ac i e and in o ma i e discussion
ocussing on MPMs, how implemen ing op ionali y and co-design could bene i s a
and s uden s wi hin hese modules, and discussing solu ions o he di icul ies his
could p esen .
1 BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
1.1 Backg ound
Cu en esea ch shows op ionali y and co-design has he po en ial o enable
inc eased engagemen o in e es , mo e inclusi e assessmen s, imp o ed s uden
wellbeing, inc eased mo i a ion, imp o ed s uden sa is ac ion, deepened
unde s anding, educed s ess and sha ed esponsibili y (Bo ill e al., 2009; Fi h e
al., 2023; Lu e al., 2015). Op ionali y and co-design a e al eady embedded wi hin
Majo P ojec Modules (MPMs) a a numbe o ins i u ions and his wo kshop seeks
o gain insigh in o he pe cei ed challenges and bene i s in ol ed. The au ho s a e
in ol ed in esea ch o explo e s uden co-design o MPMs. The aim o hei wo k is
o p o ide impo an insigh in o he po en ial impac o embedding s uden co-design
wi hin he de elopmen o indi idual MPMs.
1.2 Con ex
Wi hin he School o Mechanical and Ae ospace Enginee ing a he au ho s’
ins i u ion, as p e iously discussed, he majo i y o s uden s choose o selec hei
p ojec om a lis , anking p ojec s in o de o hei p e e ence. A new minimum-cos
maximum- low algo i hm was in oduced in 2020, eplacing a g ade based sys em
which ga e p e e ence o highe pe o ming s uden s. Since his in oduc ion, 94%,
97% and 98% o s uden s in he yea s 2020-2021, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023
espec i ely we e alloca ed a p ojec om hei op 6 p e e ences, a signi ican
inc ease om 87% in 2019-2020.
As men ioned ea lie , s uden s ha e he op ion o design and p opose hei own
p ojec , bu his is a la gely unde u ilised op ion. Be ween 2020-2024, a o al o 11
s uden s chose o p opose hei own p ojec , wi h he emaining s uden s selec ing
om he p e-de ined lis (app oxima ely 200 s uden s pe yea ). This is despi e
esea ch sugges ing ex ensi e bene i s o s uden s and s uden s who sel -p opose
wi h hese s uden s ending o achie e highe g ades.
1.3 Ra ionale
MPMs ha e a huge weigh ing on s uden ou comes and a e i al o s uden s
de eloping bo h echnical and non- echnical skills, such as o ganisa ion, planning,
collabo a ion, communica ion, in e p o essional compe ence and p oblem sol ing
(Pica d e al., 2022). MPMs ake a ious o ms ac oss uni e si ies and he aim o his
p ojec is o de ine he cu en s a e o he a in he a ea alongside iden i ying
inno a i e p ac ices. The wo kshop o ms pa o a wide esea ch p ojec , aiming o
unde s and he impac s uden op ionali y and/o co-design wi h s uden s can ha e
when u ilised wi hin MPMs, whils also p esen ing ideas and indings o da e.
2 WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES
2.1 Ta ge audience
Pa icipan numbe s a e no limi ed, al hough 12-24 pa icipan s would be p e e able.
The a ge audience o he wo kshop includes any s a a highe educa ion
ins i u ions, in ol ed in any capaci y wi h MPMs o example: supe ision,
adminis e ing o designing p ojec s. S uden delega es would also be welcome o
a end, gi en hei i s -hand expe ience wi h p ojec s. The aim o conduc ing his
wo kshop a he con e ence is o gain a di e se insigh , ensu ing u u e ou pu is bo h
ele an and use ul o mos o he ins i u ions in addi ion o he au ho s’.
2.2 Expec ed lea ning ou comes
A endees a e in i ed o pa icipa e in his wo kshop o p o ide hei iews and
engage in a li ely c i ical deba e abou his wi h colleagues om ac oss he sec o .
Helping o ame and shape bes p ac ice in his a ea and gain impo an ideas and
insigh s in o how he p ocess o conduc ing and assessing MPMs can be imp o ed
o bo h s a and s uden s. All a endees will bene i om hese con e sa ions, wi h
he discussion being ele an o anyone in ol ed in enginee ing educa ion.
Al hough speci ically a ge ing majo p ojec modules, he wo kshop con en is
applicable o a a ie y o o he con ex s. As pa o a la ge p ojec , pe spec i es om
bo h s a and s uden s will eed in o a new amewo k o embedding co-design and
op ionali y wi hin MPMs. The amewo k will elucida e he po en ial bene i s ga he ed
om wo kshops such as his one, alongside common challenges iden i ied and
sugges ions o coun e ac ing some o hese. Wo kshop pa icipan s will be kep
in o med o de elopmen s/ou pu s as he p ojec p og esses a e he con e ence.
In e es ed pa icipan s will also ha e he oppo uni y o con inue con ibu ing h ough
ollow-up in e iews.
3 WORKSHOP DESIGN
3.1 Time plan
This wo kshop will begin wi h an in oduc ion, ou lining how MPMs a e cu en ly un
in he School o Mechanical and Ae ospace Enginee ing a he au ho s’ ins i u ion,
and explo ing he po en ial o in oducing op ionali y and co-design. Li e a u e
demons a ing he bene i s o op ionali y and co-design will be discussed.
Pa icipan s will hen engage in se e al ac i i ies in g oups and will sha e hei
esul s wi h he oom. Pa icipan s will be a anged in o g oups o app oxima ely 4.
To al ime equi ed 1h .
The g oups will be in i ed o pa icipa e in h ee asks designed o ga he in o ma ion
and opinions on h ee a eas.
Table 1. Wo kshop ime plan
Run ime
Ac i i y
10 min
In oduc ion
10 min
In e ac i e ac i i y 1: Ba ie s and bene i s o op ionali y
5 min
Discussion/ eedback
10 min
In e ac i e ac i i y 2: S uden skills
5 min
Discussion/ eedback
10 min
In e ac i e ac i i y 3: De eloping a s uc u e
10 min
Discussion and conclusions
3.2 In e ac i e ac i i y ou line
The ollowing ac i i ies will be unde aken in g oups, p omo ing con e sa ion
be ween a endees bo h wi hin g oups and du ing he discussion sec ions whe e
each g oup will eed back o he oom.
Ac i i y 1: Ba ie s and bene i s o op ionali y
G oups will be p omp ed o explo e he ba ie s o and bene i s o implemen ing
op ionali y and co-design in Majo P ojec Module alloca ion and assessmen ,
d awing on he expe ience and a ying pe spec i es o g oup membe s.
Ac i i y 2: S uden skills
G oups will conside he skills would s uden s need in o de o success ully design
and scope a p ojec hemsel es alongside conside ing how well cu en p og ammes
p epa e s uden s o sel -p oposing and de eloping p ojec s, and whe e cu en gaps
lie.
Ac i i y 3: De eloping a s uc u e
G oups will conside wha mechanisms o lea ning oppo uni ies would need o be
in oduced o suppo s uden s and s a in in oducing op ionali y and co-design.
3.3 E hical app o al
E hical app o al o his esea ch s udy has been g an ed. The p ojec will o m pa
o a PhD hesis which will be published and in addi ion i is hoped ha a manusc ip
ha will be submi ed o pee e iewed jou nals and abs ac s will be submi ed o
p esen a ion a con e ences, and o he means o dissemina ion. Ca e ul
conside a ion will be aken o ensu e da a is anonymised o p o ec pa icipan s’
anonymi y. All pe sonal in o ma ion ha is collec ed du ing he esea ch s udy will be
kep s ic ly con iden ial. Names o any o he iden i iable in o ma ion will no be
ela ed o any commen s, no will hey appea on any epo o publica ion esul ing
om he s udy. This esea ch s udy is being co-o dina ed by Ma hew Cai ns, a PhD
S uden om he School o Mechanical and Ae ospace Enginee ing a Queen’s
Uni e si y Bel as (SMAE) unde he supe ision o D Louise Pick (PI), D Cha lie
McCa an and D Eoin Cunningham, also om SMAE.
4 WORKSHOP RESULTS
In o al, 10 delega es we e p esen a he wo kshop du ing he con e ence, o ming 3
g oups. Du ing each ac i i y, g oups we e asked o w i e hei indings on pos i
no es o aid da a collec ion. A selec ion o hese a e shown below.
Ac i i y 1
A numbe o ideas we e p esen ed by he g oups o bo h ba ie s and bene i s o
implemen a ion. These a e p esen ed in Table 1, simila ideas om mul iple g oups
a e shown in he same cell.
Table 1: Ac i i y 1 esul s
Ba ie s
Bene i s
Expe ience needed
Inc eased mo i a ion
In insic mo i a ion
Inc eased mo i a ion
Finding a supe iso x2
Sa es academic ime
O load hinking (s a )
Sligh ly less academic wo kload du ing p oposals
Feasibili y
Ve y in es ed
P io misconcep ions
No academic enough
Idea om eal wo ld con ex
Timelines
C ea i i y/di e si y o ideas
New ideas
Pe cei ed as o loading academic esponsibili y
Mo e pe cei ed choice/ eedom
F eedom o choose and e ol e he p ojec
Resou ce
S uden choice could deepen hei exis ing knowledge
O e whelming o s uden s
Op imism/D i e o make wo ld be e
Supe iso changes ocus o p ojec
App op ia e use o GenAI o ind, scope & s uc u e p ojec s
Lack o imagina ion/c ea i i y
Lack o in e es
No complian wi h uni e si y s anda ds
Repea ed p ojec wi h no inno a ion
Ac i i y 2/Ac i i y 3
Se e al skills we e iden i ied by g oups and we e hen placed on a g id as shown in
Figu e 1, anking bo h impo ance o he skill and how de eloped he skill is in
g adua es. In e en ions, o ideas o how he e y impo an and no well de eloped
skills could be augh a e shown on he smalle pos i no es.
Ve y well de eloped
No e y well de eloped
Ve y impo an
No e y impo an
Ve y well de eloped
No e y well de eloped
Ve y impo an
No e y impo an
Ve y well de eloped
No e y well de eloped
Ve y impo an
No e y impo an
Figu e 1: Ac i i y 2 and 3 esul s
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