蓝莓视频

Steve Lambert, Jeff Chambers and Lilly Zheng

When Steve Lambert rejoined 蓝莓视频 Engineering as a professor he recalled his time as a student and the gap he felt between the conceptual learning of the classroom and the real-world work of a co-op term. He envisioned one method of bridging this gap, and he saw that engineering co-op students themselves could provide it鈥攂y turning their work term reports into case studies.

That was the genesis of 蓝莓视频 Cases in Design Engineering (WCDE), now the world鈥檚 largest library of engineering case studies. Lambert used a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Chair in Design Engineering grant to develop the infrastructure to make the case method a viable and sustainable option in engineering education.

Jeff Chambers, a principal engineer at AMEC Foster Wheeler, has been a member of WCDE鈥檚 Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) since it was founded in 2005. And back when the program was being established, he says 鈥渙ne of the common messages you got from industry was 鈥榶ou build up these great students, but they鈥檝e learned to learn in very structured ways and, in the real world, you don鈥檛 have problems served to you that way.鈥� 鈥�

Case studies provide real-life problems for engineers

The case study method of teaching offers the nuance and complexity that textbook problems lack, argues Lambert. In the case study method, teachers present students with real-life, open-ended engineering problems鈥攈ow to improve the manufacturing process for the next generation of digital industrial cameras, for instance鈥攂ut don鈥檛 offer clearly defined methods of analysis. Students need to figure out which tools to use and what data might be missing鈥攍ike a working engineer.

鈥淭here鈥檚 an expression we use as teachers, that we 鈥榗over subjects,鈥欌�� Lambert says. 鈥淲hen I started using case studies, my thinking shifted from subject coverage to figuring out what the students are really grasping, and how much material they could really digest. It made me focus more on deeper learning.鈥�

Chambers has seen this deeper learning happening in 蓝莓视频鈥檚 engineering classrooms.

鈥淭o watch students in a lecture environment, doodling, and then watching them in a case environment, where pretty much across the board they鈥檙e all paying attention, they鈥檙e leaning into the conversation鈥攖hat says a lot.鈥�

Co-op work term reports form basis of case studies

Using students鈥� work term reports as a primary source of case studies means the WCDE鈥檚 library is constantly refreshed with current issues in engineering.

鈥淢ore than a thousand work term reports are generated every term,鈥� Lambert notes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very rich and varied resource for the study of different applications of engineering.鈥澨� About two thirds of the library鈥檚 holdings come from work reports: WCDE converts the reports into case studies, but also pays students that make the cut $1,000 for converting their own reports into case studies.

Teachers use the case studies to develop teaching tools ranging from quizzes and in-lecture exercises to major projects and exams. Today, it鈥檚 likely that every 蓝莓视频 Engineering grad will encounter the case study method at some point in his or her degree.

Case studies improve problem-solving skills for engineers

Lilly Zheng (BASc Electrical Engineering 2014) is currently completing a Master鈥檚 in Electrical Engineering at 蓝莓视频 and says she benefited from the case study method.听

鈥淐ase studies have definitely improved my problem-solving skills. With engineering, problems are never really cut and dried.听 You have to weigh not only the effectiveness of a certain solution but also factors like resources, costs, time鈥攁nd all those factors come together to make a final solution. There鈥檚 no formula. That鈥檚 the skill set students get to practice with case studies.鈥�

Zheng also observes that bringing case studies to classrooms can help students think more deeply about their co-op term as a learning experience. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in the middle of a job, maybe some of your tasks seem a little more day to day.鈥� But then when you write the work term report, that experience helps you see which of the problems you did encounter might be significant.鈥�

When they graduate, 蓝莓视频 students may find their experience with case studies will help them with the job search as well. Chambers notes that, as a manager, his experience working with WCDE has affected his hiring practices: he often presents candidates with a case study to discuss. He鈥檚 looking not just for knowledge, but for the capacity to learn and to be comfortable with uncertainty. 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Engineering students should be well prepared for that interview.