CO-DESIGNING CURRICULUM: FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCES OF UNDERGRADUATES CREATING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR THEIR PEERS

Abstract – The Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) program at McMaster University, W. Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology differentiates itself through its experiential and industry-driven approach to teaching and learning. The B.Tech program initiated a pilot faculty-student co-design project for the Project Management course delivered to third-year engineering technology students. In the past, the faculty has struggled to find a major project assignment that gives students workplace readiness skills in project management in a real-world context. The faculty and a fourth-year undergraduate student worked together to co-design a term long project, which treated their personal educational deliverables (e.g. course work, assessment deadlines, financial accountabilities), as a project to manage. The paper will bring together key perspectives from this pilot co-design experience, namely, the undergraduate course developer, faculty liaison, as well as feedback from the students in the course. The authors found that while students appreciated the accompanying project documentation, the co-design team must continue to demonstrate the usefulness of working with MS Project as software enabling workplace readiness.