Fostering intellectual development in our students through multi-level project teams

Abstract

Codes of ethics state that engineers must accept the responsibility for professional development throughout their career. Thus, our students must master the ability for life-long learning, a program outcome that is arguably the most challenging to include within the curriculum. Following the framework of Baxter Magolda, we show how a freshman through senior vertically integrated team project (VITDP) enhances learners' development on multiple levels and moves them toward self-authorship (i.e. life-long learning). VITDP is specifically designed to act as an intellectual development experience for students, and is based upon three developmental principles: knowledge is socially constructed, the individual's developmental stage is key in knowledge construction, and knowledge and expertise have developed sequentially based on experiences in VITDP. Data from VITDP shows that students are able to move from absolute and transitional knowing toward contextual knowing and self-authorship creating "intentional learners" who are empowered, informed, and responsible lifelong learners