Sustainability is increasingly becoming an important topic in engineering education. The resposib... more Sustainability is increasingly becoming an important topic in engineering education. The resposibility of engineers to find sustainable solutions for worldwide challenges is evident; therefore, new graduates need to develop the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitude to find viable, desirable, and feasible solutions by balancing the three pillars of sustainability. One of the main challenges in engineering education is, however, to identify the appropriate model to educate students in this field. The main goal of the educational model proposed in this paper is to design a methodology based on the case study approach to assist students with comprehending and assessing multi-dimensional and global sustainability challenges in multiple contexts. This paper summarizes the proposed project to accomplish this goal. The work is planned with international collaboration with the purpose of identifying sustainablity perspectives based on geographical, educational, and cultural differences.
IEEE Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnologias del Aprendizaje, 2015
Engineers have the responsibility to identify and develop sustainable, culturally relevant soluti... more Engineers have the responsibility to identify and develop sustainable, culturally relevant solutions to global problems. Consequently, an engineering education must develop the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to find viable, desirable, and feasible sustainable solutions. One of the main challenges in engineering education, however, is the identification of an appropriate model to educate students in the area of sustainability. The aim of this paper is to develop a methodology based on the case study approach that effectively exposes students to knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for decision making attuned to the multi-dimensional contexts (environmental, social, and economic) of sustainability challenges. There are two key pedagogy-based deliverables: 1) an active learning approach that requires students to work on virtual teams comprised of students throughout the Americas to solve the case study modules and 2) the case study lessons that can be applied longitudinally throughout an engineering curriculum. The work is an international collaboration built for identifying sustainability perspectives based on geographical, educational, and cultural differences. This paper describes progress to date toward completing these deliverables.
The incorporation of professional competencies in the curriculum that complement the technical pr... more The incorporation of professional competencies in the curriculum that complement the technical profile of engineers is a global trend in education. Therefore, exposing engineering students to experiences and learning environments that foster the development of professional skills as part of their formal education from the very beginning and in a consistent and effective manner must be a main task of every engineering program. The Introduction to Engineering course is a great opportunity to expose the engineering students to scenarios to start developing professional skills. However, it is evident the lack of maturity of freshmen students to address challenges and engineering projects. The aim of this work is to propose a structure for an introductory course in engineering based on competencies that provides a framework for engineering practice. This paper describes the learning areas, competencies, learning outcomes and activities that will contribute to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are crucial to prepare students to face tougher challenges. The proposed framework allows students to engage in engineering practice individually and as a team through the design and construction of a product, a process or a system. This work also involves future works on the assessment of skills for teamwork, social consciousness, ethics and project planning.
2015 International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL), 2015
Multinational teams working in engineering solutions are becoming a common practice in many indus... more Multinational teams working in engineering solutions are becoming a common practice in many industries around the world because companies are interested in capitalizing on human resources dispersed globally. This practice has increased significantly due to advancements in information and communication technologies (ICT). The effectiveness of those geographically dispersed teams has been a topic of interest for the authors of this paper particularly the interaction among the team members since the literature recognizes that teams achieve better results when the interaction is strong and the social level of interaction is significant; additionally, that the working environment is more conducive to a positive experience when social interaction is built. This paper presents a description of the findings based on the data collected in a study done on the interaction of teams in a multinational collaborative design project carried out by students from six different countries dispersed in the US, Latin America and Europe. The main objective of this study is to use an assessment tool to evaluate the interaction among the students focusing in its nature, preferred communication tools and perceived value, with a special interest in the observed differences based on cultural backgrounds due to geographical location.
—Multinational teams working in engineering solutions are becoming a common practice in many indu... more —Multinational teams working in engineering solutions are becoming a common practice in many industries around the world because companies are interested in capitalizing on human resources dispersed globally. This practice has increased significantly due to advancements in information and communication technologies (ICT). The effectiveness of those geographically dispersed teams has been a topic of interest for the authors of this paper particularly the interaction among the team members since the literature recognizes that teams achieve better results when the interaction is strong and the social level of interaction is significant; additionally, that the working environment is more conducive to a positive experience when social interaction is built. This paper presents a description of the findings based on the data collected in a study done on the interaction of teams in a multinational collaborative design project carried out by students from six different countries dispersed in the US, Latin America and Europe. The main objective of this study is to use an assessment tool to evaluate the interaction among the students focusing in its nature, preferred communication tools and perceived value, with a special interest in the observed differences based on cultural backgrounds due to geographical location.
Proceedings of the 13th Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology Engineering Education Facing the Grand Challenges What Are We Doing?, 2015
Exposing students to international experiences is becoming a common practice to prepare students ... more Exposing students to international experiences is becoming a common practice to prepare students with global capabilities. One pedagogical activity used to promote global competencies is the participation of students in multinational design projects. This is a problem-based learning approach in an international setting, where students get immersed in the solution of an engineering design task while they work in teams and collaborate with international partners. The main goal of these projects is to foster international collaboration and to offer an opportunity to the students to develop professional skills through international teamwork effort in the solution of a design problem. However, a real challenge of this practice has been to create an effective interaction among the students participating in this type of projects and to maintain the flow of information, and student engagement in the project and in their learning. The main objective of this work is to investigate the sociotechnical interaction of engineering students working in a multinational collaborative project and the role of information technology tools and the nature of the interaction in this experience. For this purpose an assessment tool was developed and used to determine the interaction among the students (frequency, quantity and quality), the value of social interaction in the flow of the interaction, and the impact of the interaction in the development of the project. The main findings of this instrument are presented in this work.
Sustainability is increasingly becoming an important topic in engineering education. The resposib... more Sustainability is increasingly becoming an important topic in engineering education. The resposibility of engineers to find sustainable solutions for worldwide challenges is evident; therefore, new graduates need to develop the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitude to find viable, desirable, and feasible solutions by balancing the three pillars of sustainability. One of the main challenges in engineering education is, however, to identify the appropriate model to educate students in this field. The main goal of the educational model proposed in this paper is to design a methodology based on the case study approach to assist students with comprehending and assessing multi-dimensional and global sustainability challenges in multiple contexts. This paper summarizes the proposed project to accomplish this goal. The work is planned with international collaboration with the purpose of identifying sustainablity perspectives based on geographical, educational, and cultural differences.
IEEE Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnologias del Aprendizaje, 2015
Engineers have the responsibility to identify and develop sustainable, culturally relevant soluti... more Engineers have the responsibility to identify and develop sustainable, culturally relevant solutions to global problems. Consequently, an engineering education must develop the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to find viable, desirable, and feasible sustainable solutions. One of the main challenges in engineering education, however, is the identification of an appropriate model to educate students in the area of sustainability. The aim of this paper is to develop a methodology based on the case study approach that effectively exposes students to knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for decision making attuned to the multi-dimensional contexts (environmental, social, and economic) of sustainability challenges. There are two key pedagogy-based deliverables: 1) an active learning approach that requires students to work on virtual teams comprised of students throughout the Americas to solve the case study modules and 2) the case study lessons that can be applied longitudinally throughout an engineering curriculum. The work is an international collaboration built for identifying sustainability perspectives based on geographical, educational, and cultural differences. This paper describes progress to date toward completing these deliverables.
The incorporation of professional competencies in the curriculum that complement the technical pr... more The incorporation of professional competencies in the curriculum that complement the technical profile of engineers is a global trend in education. Therefore, exposing engineering students to experiences and learning environments that foster the development of professional skills as part of their formal education from the very beginning and in a consistent and effective manner must be a main task of every engineering program. The Introduction to Engineering course is a great opportunity to expose the engineering students to scenarios to start developing professional skills. However, it is evident the lack of maturity of freshmen students to address challenges and engineering projects. The aim of this work is to propose a structure for an introductory course in engineering based on competencies that provides a framework for engineering practice. This paper describes the learning areas, competencies, learning outcomes and activities that will contribute to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are crucial to prepare students to face tougher challenges. The proposed framework allows students to engage in engineering practice individually and as a team through the design and construction of a product, a process or a system. This work also involves future works on the assessment of skills for teamwork, social consciousness, ethics and project planning.
2015 International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL), 2015
Multinational teams working in engineering solutions are becoming a common practice in many indus... more Multinational teams working in engineering solutions are becoming a common practice in many industries around the world because companies are interested in capitalizing on human resources dispersed globally. This practice has increased significantly due to advancements in information and communication technologies (ICT). The effectiveness of those geographically dispersed teams has been a topic of interest for the authors of this paper particularly the interaction among the team members since the literature recognizes that teams achieve better results when the interaction is strong and the social level of interaction is significant; additionally, that the working environment is more conducive to a positive experience when social interaction is built. This paper presents a description of the findings based on the data collected in a study done on the interaction of teams in a multinational collaborative design project carried out by students from six different countries dispersed in the US, Latin America and Europe. The main objective of this study is to use an assessment tool to evaluate the interaction among the students focusing in its nature, preferred communication tools and perceived value, with a special interest in the observed differences based on cultural backgrounds due to geographical location.
—Multinational teams working in engineering solutions are becoming a common practice in many indu... more —Multinational teams working in engineering solutions are becoming a common practice in many industries around the world because companies are interested in capitalizing on human resources dispersed globally. This practice has increased significantly due to advancements in information and communication technologies (ICT). The effectiveness of those geographically dispersed teams has been a topic of interest for the authors of this paper particularly the interaction among the team members since the literature recognizes that teams achieve better results when the interaction is strong and the social level of interaction is significant; additionally, that the working environment is more conducive to a positive experience when social interaction is built. This paper presents a description of the findings based on the data collected in a study done on the interaction of teams in a multinational collaborative design project carried out by students from six different countries dispersed in the US, Latin America and Europe. The main objective of this study is to use an assessment tool to evaluate the interaction among the students focusing in its nature, preferred communication tools and perceived value, with a special interest in the observed differences based on cultural backgrounds due to geographical location.
Proceedings of the 13th Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology Engineering Education Facing the Grand Challenges What Are We Doing?, 2015
Exposing students to international experiences is becoming a common practice to prepare students ... more Exposing students to international experiences is becoming a common practice to prepare students with global capabilities. One pedagogical activity used to promote global competencies is the participation of students in multinational design projects. This is a problem-based learning approach in an international setting, where students get immersed in the solution of an engineering design task while they work in teams and collaborate with international partners. The main goal of these projects is to foster international collaboration and to offer an opportunity to the students to develop professional skills through international teamwork effort in the solution of a design problem. However, a real challenge of this practice has been to create an effective interaction among the students participating in this type of projects and to maintain the flow of information, and student engagement in the project and in their learning. The main objective of this work is to investigate the sociotechnical interaction of engineering students working in a multinational collaborative project and the role of information technology tools and the nature of the interaction in this experience. For this purpose an assessment tool was developed and used to determine the interaction among the students (frequency, quantity and quality), the value of social interaction in the flow of the interaction, and the impact of the interaction in the development of the project. The main findings of this instrument are presented in this work.
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Papers by Jaime Núñez S.
One pedagogical activity used to promote global competencies is the participation of students in multinational design projects. This is a problem-based learning approach in an international setting, where students get immersed in the solution of an engineering design task while they work in teams and collaborate with international partners. The main goal of these projects is to foster international collaboration and to offer an opportunity to the students to develop professional skills through international teamwork effort in the solution of a design problem. However, a real challenge of this practice has been to create an effective interaction among the students participating in this type of projects and to maintain the flow of information, and student engagement in the project and in their learning. The main objective of this work is to investigate the sociotechnical interaction of engineering students working in a multinational collaborative project and the role of information technology tools and the nature of the interaction in this experience. For this purpose an assessment tool was developed and used to determine the interaction among the students (frequency, quantity and quality), the value of social interaction in the flow of the interaction, and the impact of the interaction in the development of the project. The main findings of this instrument are presented in this work.
One pedagogical activity used to promote global competencies is the participation of students in multinational design projects. This is a problem-based learning approach in an international setting, where students get immersed in the solution of an engineering design task while they work in teams and collaborate with international partners. The main goal of these projects is to foster international collaboration and to offer an opportunity to the students to develop professional skills through international teamwork effort in the solution of a design problem. However, a real challenge of this practice has been to create an effective interaction among the students participating in this type of projects and to maintain the flow of information, and student engagement in the project and in their learning. The main objective of this work is to investigate the sociotechnical interaction of engineering students working in a multinational collaborative project and the role of information technology tools and the nature of the interaction in this experience. For this purpose an assessment tool was developed and used to determine the interaction among the students (frequency, quantity and quality), the value of social interaction in the flow of the interaction, and the impact of the interaction in the development of the project. The main findings of this instrument are presented in this work.