Project-based learning (PBL) in universities enhances students' employability by providing them with practical skills, real-world experience, and a problem-solving mindset that aligns with the expectations of industry jobs while achieving learning goals. This paper examines the implementation and effectiveness of collaborative team-based PBL to solve ill-structured real-world problems. The objective is to evaluate collaborative PBL and its challenges in team-based mechanical design projects.

This study involves 60 Year 2 undergraduate students in the SIT-UofG BEng (Hons.) in Mechanical Engineering curriculum under the design specialisation. Under the Design and Manufacture module, each team of students is expected to identify their project problem statement, define technical specifications, generate concept designs, perform concept selection, followed by a detailed design. Through the team project, the students are developed to achieve the following learning outcomes:
(i) appreciate the depth of the real world problem and perform self-directed learning;
(ii) research and obtain necessary information to solve problems;
(iii) apply theoretical knowledge to solve real-world problems;
(iv) explain concepts;
(v) think critically to breakdown an open-ended problem;
(vi) manage multiple perspectives; and (vii) work effectively with people.

A survey was designed and conducted to understand the students’ learning experience and their perceptions on the attainment of the learning outcomes of collaborative PBL. The results have shown that 98% of the respondents understood the expectation of collaborative PBL. 76% of the cohort felt that PBL is beneficial for learning. However, the remaining felt that they did not learn more through PBL. As such, more support might be required to engage the students in self-directed learning. In addition, insights on the students’ perceptions of the importance of the learning outcomes in collaborative PBL revealed that more guidance is required to scaffold the students’ learning for effective collaborative PBL with ill-structured problems. Some of the respondents have also provided feedback that by offering more industry insights into the problems, enhancing assessment criteria and having fewer assessment components will enable students to learn more effectively. This lays the foundation for our future research to refine our approach for collaborative PBL and explore its impact on the industry-readiness of our graduates.

Keywords: Collaborative project-based learning, mechanical design, industry readiness.