hogeschool brabant cirrus project duurzame technologie van de faculteit techniek en natuur duurzame...

Hogeschool Brabant

CIRRUSproject duurzame technologie van de Faculteit Techniek en Natuur

Duurzame Chemie

Multidisciplinary projects as learning tool for sustainable approaches

Experience and some critical assessment

L.M.F. Dejong

2Project CIRRUS Expertise Center

Sustainable Business Operations

Multidisciplinary projects

Students in any (technical) discipline have to learn:

• To understand each other’s language

• To start thinking in systems

• To dedicate their specialism to a system approach



Sustainable development

The “CIRRUS” approach:an integrated focus on sustainability in all the study programmes, by integratingKnowledge InsightCompetences In different subjects, courses and projects.

Main aspects, creating an awareness of sustainabilityA vision on sustainabilityLearning a systems approach



Multidisciplinary projects

Objectives multidisciplinay projects program:• To gain experience• To develop an integrated course• To develop a protocol for MD-projects

Important problem definition• Students from various disciplines truly

cooperate ?• MD-collaboration sustainable solutions?



Practical approach

Directly at the start of CIRRUS project, the “ENO” MD-project was carried out

The results of that “ENO” MD-project formed input for a protocol

The protocol was used in three further projects.



Protocol

Intake phaseAssessment project subjectAllocation people & resources +

acceptance

Execution phaseOrientation / problem definitionAnalysis / designImplementationEvaluation / finalising



“Eno” project

To assess the need of information on sustainable energy options

Major experiences MD-projectDurationLevel participants equalAmount of time availableCohesion of the group (Belbin / Tuckman)

Interactivity project <=> project groupRelation external party

Projects / learning experience




“De Pettena” projectTo improve the energy economy of a

home for the elderlyProject result: very successfulMajor experiences MD-project:

Protocol worked well.Coaching of teambuilding, in particular

cooperation of students, is too hard for supervisors in the field.




“Xerox” project

Design a process to reuse parts of a new generation copiers

Partly successful

Major experiences MD-projectThe willingness and ability to collaborate.The level of the studentsLarge projects, hard to demarcate in time



Observations, conclusions and recommendations (1)

• StudentRecruitment of students is hard“Equivalence” requires special attentionGroupforming process needs attention

• OrganisationBringing in line of department programmes

remains a problem



Observations, conclusions and recommendations (2)

External partiesToo high hopes Impact of supervision MD projects too much Inexpierence of external supervisors with tackling

problems in teamwork

ProtocolTuning with regard to the planning of the study

programmesTeambuilding in house

ProposalsMD-projects planned in earlier stage of the studies



SummaryPro

MD-projects enriches the student’s learning process

Companies were quite taken with such projectsStudents must become better in their own field

NeutralTeambuilding within the Faculty

ContraStudents are tired of being leveled downThe programming of the different studies differs

too muchAcquisition of external MD assignments is hard.

hogeschool brabant cirrus project duurzame technologie van de faculteit techniek en natuur duurzame...

Documents

eno project

pettena project

start of cirrus project

eno mdproject

elderly project result

cirrus approach

experience slide

sustainable development