Enhancing Student Engagement in Multidisciplinary Groups in Higher Education

Recently, there has been a rise in the integration of curriculum from
different disciplines in higher education (HE) in response to the multidisciplinary
nature of the skill set required by modern job market. In cases where the curriculum is delivered to students from the same discipline, it is intuitive for students to easily identify with the relevance the module. However, the aforementioned will not be as straightforward in situations where a curriculum/module from a particular discipline is taken by multidisciplinary groups of students. Consequently, there is a risk of disengagement of student groups from one or more of those disciplines. This report evaluates a strategy to enhance student engagement in modules taught to multidisciplinary groups in HE. For this purpose, a real-world case study of a module taken by Computer Science, Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering Students at University of Northampton is used. Firstly, the report reviews the key problems in relation to student engagement. A review of recent literature is then presented to evaluate the state-of-the art approaches. An action plan/intervention is then proposed in response to the problem statement and findings from literature. Furthermore, an initial study based on an evaluation of the implemented action plan is then presented before a final conclusion remark.