2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

As the automotive industry embraces electrification, autonomy, and AI-enabled diagnostics, engineering education must evolve accordingly. It is especially important to develop not only technical skills but also professional capacities known as the 4C’s (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity). This work-in-progress describes a senior elective, Introduction to Automotive Engineering, designed for mechanical engineering undergraduates, which combines modules on traditional subsystems, vehicle electrification, and AI in the automotive industry. One of the most important aspects of the course is a team-based literature review project. In this project, students progress through stages of topic selection, source evaluation, critical analysis, synthesis, peer review, and final reporting. The assignment is constructed in a way that explicitly targets each of the 4C’s. Students are required to assess the credibility of the research, present their findings clearly, collaborate effectively in teams, and creatively apply new technologies to vehicle systems. Early feedback and evaluation of draft work indicate that many teams are able to produce well-structured reports (communication) and occasionally propose novel ideas (creativity). However, they tend to merely summarize rather than critique, highlighting a weakness in their critical thinking skills. They also experience difficulties with equitable division of labor; thus, their collaboration skills require further development. Future work will explore approaches, such as structured critique prompts and enhanced peer review, to promote students' balanced growth across the 4C’s. These insights are intended to guide educators who seek to integrate emerging automotive topics and professional skills in a coherent curricular experience.