Sustainability of Project-Based Learning by Incorporating Transdisciplinary Design in Fabrication of Hydraulic Robot Arm

Taha Farid, Sara Ali, Muhammad Sajid and Khalid Akhtar
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Taha Farid: School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (SMME), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Sara Ali: School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (SMME), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Muhammad Sajid: School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (SMME), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Khalid Akhtar: School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (SMME), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-17

Abstract: Wider acceptance of project-based learning (PjBL) in the tertiary education industry has been obstructed by its resource-intensive nature. This paper introduces a transdisciplinary variant of PjBL for undergraduate engineering students through a multidisciplinary complex engineering problem requiring the design and fabrication of a hydraulic robot arm. The robotics-inspired transdisciplinary PjBL variant was first evaluated through student feedback using the Chi-square hypothesis test, which, at Chi-square (4, N = 101) = 129.12; p < 0.05, revealed a statistically significant difference in the proportion of the student feedback in favor of the PjBL for sustainability of transdisciplinary project-based learning. Furthermore, the students’ PjBL and PbBL scores were subjected to the Mann–Whitney U test which concluded the effectiveness of PjBL against PbBL with statistical significance, U(N = 101) = 192.00, z = −11.826, p < 0.05. The results indicate that the novel transdisciplinary project-based learning (PjBL) approach develops students’ practical engineering knowledge spanning multiple disciplines, thereby resulting in a sustainable concept of project-based learning.

Keywords: project-based learning; robotics education; transdisciplinary perspective; complex engineering problem; problem-based learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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