Ingenieur Vol.72 ingenieur October 2017-FA3 | Page 34

INGENIEUR
Ideally, for an interdisciplinary capstone design project to succeed, each
student has to tackle concepts from their own discipline and complete their
project by collaborating with students from other engineering disciplines
while individually meeting the capstone project requirements
Foundation (NSF) as part of their strategic plan to
“emphasize investigations that cross disciplinary
boundaries and require a systems approach to
address complex problems” [11]. To be considered
truly interdisciplinary, various disciplines must
work together in an integrated manner to solve
complex problems [12].
In the engineering field, interdisciplinary
learning can be implemented in a fourth
year capstone design project. Ideally, for an
interdisciplinary capstone design project to
succeed, each student has to tackle concepts
from their own discipline and complete their
project by collaborating with students from other
engineering disciplines while individually meeting
the capstone project requirements [13].
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary are
often used interchangeably. However, it is
important to understand the difference between
the terms so that satisfactory outcomes from
the learning process can be achieved. In a
multidisciplinary approach, there is a limited
exchange of information among collaborators
from multiple disciplines with each collaborator
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bringing their expertise to a problem through
the division of labour. An interdisciplinary
approach is defined when persons from
different disciplines work collaboratively and are
integrated in order to combine their knowledge in
solving problems [14].
Literature shows a broad range of issues and
opinions on how to organise and operate capstone
design projects. General topics discussed
in the design of capstone projects include:
characteristics of a successful capstone design
project [15]; a capstone project that satisfies EAC
criteria [16]; assessment of a capstone project
[17]; enhancing university-industry collaboration
from a capstone design programme [18];
framework for characterizing capstone design
experiences [19] and the application of PBL in a
capstone design project [20].
However, there is an inadequate curriculum
in many engineering schools in Malaysia to
cultivate interdisciplinary learning in a capstone
design project. Thus, issues and challenges in
implementing an interdisciplinary capstone design
project are discussed below.