Effects of bilateral problem-based learning program for engineering students: Case of a joint course with Japan and Thailand

The purpose of this paper is to assess the learning outcomes of a problem-based learning (PBL) program within multi-cultural setting for students majoring in engineering. To meet the pressing needs of global issues such as population change, energy, and environment, the tasks required for engineers have expanded in recent decades to include working in multicultural environments. There, along with technical skills and knowledge in their fields of expertise, engineers are required to be equipped with skills and minds able to work in these fields. As such, higher educational institutions have conducted educational reform to develop active learning along with inter-country university programs. Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan and Chulalongkorn University in Thailand developed a joint PBL program titled “Global Awareness for Technology Implementation in the Solving of Social Issues”. The uniqueness of this PBL program is that it combined the virtual on-line group work and face-to-face meeting. This paper summarizes the process of curriculum development, pedagogy utilized in the course, as well as research findings and its reasons. Through this process the paper aims to discuss challenges and opportunities for future prospects of global engineering education utilizing digital devices to promote inter-cultural PBL.

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