2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

COIL Multidisciplinary Global Engineering Capstone Class Impact: Faculty and Student Insights Across Four Countries

Presented at International Division (INTL): Inclusive Global Engagement

In our increasingly interconnected world, developing a global perspective is crucial for understanding diverse viewpoints and fostering successful collaboration across cultural lines. Universities play a key role in this by building international partnerships that facilitate global experiences for students, faculty, and staff. However, various challenges can limit opportunities for in-person exchanges. To broaden access to international experiences, digital course formats now offer virtual mobility, enabling a wider range of students to engage in global learning without the need to travel.
This study examines the redevelopment of a multidisciplinary, digitally-mediated course titled Global Engineering (GE), revamped in Summer 2024 and currently offered in Fall 2024 as a collaborative initiative involving universities in the United States, Portugal, Germany, and Brazil. In this course, diverse international student teams participate in a Hyflex setting using Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) to address social entrepreneurship challenges. The student cohort includes engineers from various disciplines, as well as majors in computer science, mechatronics, information systems, and human-centered computing. In addition to a literature-based examination of the increasing demand for Global Engineers and Social Entrepreneurs, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the GE course's development and presents a longitudinal analysis to evaluate its impact on students' global perspectives and social entrepreneurial mindset. Moreover, interviews and focus groups with students and instructors offer a detailed understanding of the course’s influence on students’ competencies, mindsets, and global awareness.
Initially launched in 2023 for mechanical engineering students through a U.S.-Portugal partnership, this digitally-mediated Global Engineering (GE) course showed significant improvements in students' global perspectives, as measured by the Global Perspective Inventory (GPI). Now, in Fall 2024, the evaluation uses qualitative methods—such as interviews and focus groups—to gain deeper insights into participants' engagement, perceived impact, and social entrepreneurial mindset. Preliminary findings reveal notable growth in cultural understanding and social entrepreneurial skills, highlighting the effectiveness of online platforms in fostering global competencies and guiding faculty in designing COIL programs.

Authors

Dr. Jamie R Gurganus University of Maryland Baltimore County [biography]

Dr. Jamie Gurganus is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Engineering and Computing Education Program and the Associate Director of STEMed Research in the College of Engineering and Informational Technology. She also directs the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) in the graduate school. Her research is dedicated to addressing the complex challenges of educating and developing engineers, teachers, and communities at every level—from P–12 to post-graduate studies. Her work spans engineering identity and mindsets, global and entrepreneurial competencies, failure culture, first-year experiences in engineering, capstone design thinking, and the integration of service and authentic learning into the classroom and developing future faculty. In addition, she is committed to implementing innovative instructional methodologies and optimizing design through both traditional and non-traditional manufacturing techniques.
Dr. Yashin Brijmohan http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2485-9808 Utah State University [biography]

Yashin Brijmohan is a registered professional engineer and Assistant Professor Engineering Education at Utah State University. He is also an Executive committee member of the Commonwealth Engineers Council, Board Member of the UNESCO International Centre for Engineering Education, and Chair of the Africa Asia Pacific Engineering Council.

He was the founding Executve Dean of Business, Engineering and Technology at Monash South Africa, former Vice President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, and led several committees in the engineering profession.

Yashin has both leadership and specialist experience within the engineering power industry and education sectors and is known for his thought leadership in capacity building and engineering education.
Lani McGuire The Ohio State University [biography]

Lani McGuire is a first-year PhD student in Engineering Education at the Ohio State University. His research interests lie in exploring undergraduate and pre-college engineering student opportunities and experiences.
Mr. Michael M. Malschützky http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5328-1529 Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, University of Applied Sciences, Germany [biography]

Michael M. Malschützky is a Research Associate at the Centre for Teaching Development and Innovation (ZIEL) as well as Affiliate Faculty at the Department of Management Sciences at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, University of Applied Sciences (H-BRS), Germany. He received his Diplom-Ingenieur (FH) in Mechanical Engineering from H-BRS in 2005. After working as Test & Validation Engineer (TIER-1) and Program Management Engineer (OEM) in the automotive industry, he returned to academia in 2013, receiving his BSc (2017) and MSc (2023) in Business Psychology from H-BRS.
Dr. Anderson Harayashiki Moreira http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-3598-9504 Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia [biography]

Graduated in Control and Automation Engineering from Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia (IMT) (2008). Master in Mechatronics Engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) (2011). PhD in Mechatronics Engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) (2017). He is currently a professor at the Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia. He develops activities and research in the area of mobile autonomous robotics, control systems, industrial robotics and microcontroller systems.
Albertino Arteiro University of Porto
Joyce Zampirolli Scrivano
Prof. Steven McAlpine University of Maryland Baltimore County [biography]

Steven McAlpine is an assistant teaching faculty member in the Entrepreneurship and Individualized Study programs at UMBC, as well as a Global Learning Fellow in the Center for Global Engagement. He has been teaching role playing game design and leading campus wide RPG events for the past ten years. He also leads the multidisciplinary sustainable design course entitled INDS 430: The Kinetic Sculpture Project, which won the grand prize in the 2015 Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture race.
Andrea Schwandt Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg [biography]

Andrea Schwandt received her diploma in Electrical Engineering (Telecommunications) from the University of Siegen, Germany, in 1994. After working as a design engineer and system administrator, she joined Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University of Applied Sciences in Sankt Augustin in 1997, where she is currently a research assistant in the fields of digital design, microcontrollers, and analog circuits. In 2021, she also completed her master's degree in "Electrotechnical System Development" (M.Eng.) at Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University. Her research interests focus on FPGA- and microcontroller-based systems, particularly in the context of remote labs, as well as their integration into international teaching programs.
Joao Santos

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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