2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Many engineering students have reported feeling a disconnect between the curriculum they learn at school and the skills they need to be successful in their first job. As a result, engineering graduates can feel unprepared or underprepared to handle challenges in the workplace. It is proposed that the main driver of this problem is the lack of real-world learning opportunities in higher education. In response, the authors implemented a five-week learning intervention in a biomedical engineering course (Mechanics of Materials) with the aim of providing students with multidisciplinary open-ended, real-world project experience. To assess student perceptions of the new curriculum intervention, reflections were collected and qualitatively analyzed resulting in 3 overarching themes, including creativity in user-centered design, time management, and communication/collaboration. These themes demonstrate that students felt they acquired or expanded skills that are considered vital in a work environment. Therefore, applying this project experience on a larger scale can alleviate some of the unpreparedness that engineering students feel as they leave school and enter the workforce. The intervention details and lessons learned will be provided to encourage other engineering instructors to implement similar real-world learning strategies in the higher education classroom.