Engaging engineering students through project-based learning and industrial site visits in a mechanical design course

In the current economic environment, some engineering graduates have experienced difficulties in finding suitable graduate roles, and graduate employability has become an important issue for educational institutions. The gap between the capability of engineering graduates and the expectations of industry might be attributed to the fact that some aspects of the engineering curriculum are overly theoretical in nature, and this leads to issues where students are unable to apply what they have learnt when they join industry (Li, Ochsner, & Hall, 2019; Male & King, 2014). This could be caused by a lack of connection and interaction between educational institutions and industry, and as a result, the curriculum frequently fails to meet the needs of the industry (Shukla & Garg, 2016). It has been suggested that engineering students should be exposed to professional engineering practice during their courses (Allen, 1996). Others (King, 2008) have also suggested students should have closer involvement with engineering practice through site visits, exposure to practicing engineers, and involvement in practical engineering project work within their courses. It has been recognised that industry engagement within engineering education can help students to increase their motivation for learning as they can better understand the context and the connections to engineering practice (Male & King, 2014). It is clear that the increased motivation is able to enhance students’ engagement in learning in terms of their attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion.