The document summarizes a study on a multi-discipline built environment project module taken by over 200 final year students from civil engineering, architecture, and building courses. It finds that the module helped students gain professional skills like teamwork, problem solving, and communication. Changes between the first and second years of the study increased student satisfaction and engagement. Repeated experience in such projects best helped students improve their skills. The research used observation, interviews, and surveys, and plans to continue and expand its methods.

1. Prepared by Ursula Rutherford for a research discussion session at
EE2012 Innovation, Practice and Research in Engineering Education conference
September 2012 at Coventry University, UK
A study of a multi-discipline built environment project
Summary of the module
Realistic design of a building for specific purpose on a real-life site and tender for construction.
Final year students from all the courses offered by the Department of Civil Engineering,
Architecture and Building – over 200 students.
Group working on lengthy project.
Covers 2 semesters & contributes 20 credits.
8 staff plus invited industry and academic visitors
Assessment by group presentation, submission of report and drawings, tender exhibition open to
non-students including local industry representatives.
Adjustment by peer assessment.
Integration of previously acquired knowledge and skills
Some research but no new technical learning
Reflection on group processes required.
Leadership, time management, project management, communication, conducting meetings,
collaboration, negotiation, problem-solving, decision-making, report-writing, producing industry-
strength drawings, presenting, defending design and justifying decisions.
Changing environment (between year 1 and year 2)
Evolution of teaching methods: addition of specialist workshops
consultants and surgeries
provision of collection of teamworking resources
Alteration of assessment reduction of number of phases
choice of tasks
individual mark v. group mark
specialist markers & more feedback
Change of project scenario: student centre v. department building
Difference between cohorts: more exposure to group work
more exposure to Activity Led Learning
more exposure to multi-disciplinary tasks
Different team formation: self-selecting instead of assigned
end of ‘seeding’ with industry-aware students (e.g. part-time)
introduction of virtual international teams
11 members reduced to 8 members

2. Prepared by Ursula Rutherford for a research discussion session at
EE2012 Innovation, Practice and Research in Engineering Education conference
September 2012 at Coventry University, UK
Research questions and findings
The study provides affirmative answers in some degree to all three research questions:
1. Are students satisfied with the learning experience and group-working of the Integrated
Project?
Changes introduced during and between the two presentations increased the overall
satisfaction level whilst still leaving room for improvement.
2. Does Activity-Led Learning (in the form of realistic multi-disciplinary collaborative projects)
motivate and engage students to gain skills and competences which help equip them to act as
professionals and do students recognise the acquisition of these skills and competences?
Observation and interviews showed students acquired skills and competences in
multidisciplinary team working, problem solving and communication, particularly so in the
2011-12 cohort.
3. Can repeated exposure to such projects enable students to improve these skills and
competences?
The difference between the two cohorts in their attitude to the Integrated Project and their
confidence in tackling group work is striking and indicates that groupwork experience in
previous Activity-Led Learning modules was formative.
Research methods
The research used three main methods in the first 2 years :
1. ethnographic observation
2. individual interviews
3. student satisfaction surveys
Student satisfaction surveys are planned for the 2012-13 presentation of the Integrated Project. An
additional three research activities are under consideration:
1. Observation by a researcher will continue and may develop into a closer look at fewer teams
to study how team formation and dynamics affect the acquisition of professional skills by the
team members.
2. A closer examination of which professional competences students believe they have gained or
improved in during the duration of their participation in the module is being planned in the form
of a questionnaire based upon the responses revealed by the interviews in previous years.
The questionnaire could be administered on commencement of the module and again near
the conclusion.
3. It may be possible to contact alumni who are now working in the construction industry to
examine their views on the value of their experience of the Integrated Project when
commencing their professional lives.
Discussion questions
How can the effectiveness of Activity Led Learning be evaluated in an environment of continual change?
Are the (proposed) research methods suitable and sufficient to answer the research questions?