Project-Based Learning Approach for an Engineering Course: Challenges and Learnings of Teaching Transversal Skills

Project-based learning (PBL), as one of the effective teaching and learning approaches in engineering education, can create opportunities for students to address problems with real-world applications, integrate and apply knowledge, and practice and develop transversal competencies such as teamwork and communication. However, with the common emphasis on final products and a lack of explicit attention to transversal competencies in designing and teaching PBL courses, the benefit of PBL in facilitating the development of transversal skills is under question. In this paper, we use a critical lens to examine a project-based course offered at a polytechnic university in Switzerland, EPFL, and explore structural elements that are important in facilitating the development of transversal competencies. We describe the structure of the PBL course, Mechanical Product Design and Development, that was recently conceived and received positive feedback from students, report on ways transversal competencies were addressed, and reflect on lessons that can be learned from the praxis, informed by the literature, to avoid missing opportunities to support students in developing transversal competencies.