6 Your 4-year Degree

Interactive Activity: Your 4-year Engineering degree

This activity will give you an example roadmap for the different activities a student will undertake over the course of a 4-year engineering degree. Students will experience similar learning activities in other vocational degrees.

Students are then invited to click on a bubble which tells them about a part of their degree, or involves an interactive activity. The content is presented sequentially here.

First Year:

In first year, you will focus on learning some of the key teamwork skills needed throughout your course and when you graduate. The unit team will try to help you understand where you currently are with regards to your teamwork skills, as well as what it takes to be a good team member. Working through these modules is part of that. Teamwork in first year will be more structured, but make sure you take advantage of incidental teamwork in seminars and workshops to improve your skills. Your teams are also more likely to be specified in first year (eg. your lecturers may assign you to teams rather than you choosing your own).

True/ false question 1:

1. The teamwork skills you learn in first year will help set you up for success in later years.

The correct answer is true- Well done! It’s important to start developing skills in first year so you have a baseline for the rest of your degree.

Second year:

In second year, you will focus on strengthening the skills you have started to develop. You will see a lot more self and peer reviews which are designed to help you reflect on how you can improve your teamwork skills. Make sure you come back and look over the activities in this resource to help you in this year.

Multiple choice question 1:

1. Which of the following is true regarding self and peer reviews?
   a. Self and peer reviews are designed to make extra work for students.
   b. Self and peer reviews help to reflect on an individuals skills and contribution to the project.
   c. Reviews don’t improve teamwork skills.

The correct answer is b) Self and peer reviews help to reflect on an individual’s skills and contribution to the project.

Third and Fourth Year:

In third and fourth year, you are reaching the final stages of your degree, and we expect you will be working with more autonomy. You are more likely to work in multi-disciplinary teams at this point, similar to what will happen when you move into the workplace. It is important by this point that you know your strengths and weaknesses, particularly where you are defining team tasks. The teaching teams will expect you to ensure that, where necessary, you assign yourselves and your team mates tasks that sit within their discipline.

Types of tasks you’ll complete:

Now you have an understanding of what you might expect in each year of your degree, click through the next bubbles to learn about some of the different tasks you’ll be completing.

True/false question 2:

1. You will be expected to complete all of your group work with the same people each time.

The correct answer is false- That’s right! There will many opportunities to work with different peers in group tasks.

Labs and Pracs:

Throughout your studies, you will engage in labs and pracs, generally completing the lab as a team. It is important that the whole team engages in the task so everyone has an understanding of the content, and also experiences working together as a group. Many students comment that they learn a lot during practical activities as they develop first-hand experience of what they have been learning.

Workshops and Seminars:

Students at all year levels will participate in various workshops and seminars that will sometimes require teamwork. Much of this is incidental, that is, you will be asked to work with other people you happen to be sitting with. These sessions are designed to develop skills such as leadership, communication, and collaboration, essential for success in the engineering field. They give you an opportunity to practice some of the skills you will need in your more formal assessments.

Peer Review:

Throughout your course you are likely to encounter peer review multiple times. In most instances, you will be asked to rate the performance of yourself and team members. It is important to be honest in this process because, as you progress, you will be asked to use these opportunities to reflect on how you interact with a team and how you are improving in this respect. You will also sometimes be asked to comment on other student’s work. This is often done as a way to get some constructive feedback before the teaching team assesses the work. It is important that you provide constructive feedback- that is, something that is clear, balanced and focuses on solutions to improve the student’s work, rather than just highlighting shortcomings.

Design Projects:

Deakin University’s approach to teaching means you will encounter design projects throughout your degree at every year level. These will often (but not always) include elements of teamwork. In these instances, you would be expected to collaborate towards the completion of a design of build (similar to what you would do in a work environment). You may be expected to contribute to part of the design, or you may be expected to work as a team in the entire design process, contributing towards all components of the design. It is important that you and your team are on the same page for this, particularly with the approach you are going to take. The outputs of design projects can be variable. You may all need to contribute to a report or provide a presentation or demonstration of your project. What is most important is ensuring that whatever form this takes, that it is not just a series of sections “stapled” together. You want to ensure that the work is properly integrated and flows well. As a team, you should all review the outputs before they are submitted, so make sure you allow some time for this.

Multiple choice 2:

1. Select from the following all of the different tasks you will complete as part of your 4-year degree:
   a. Peer review tasks
   b. Labs
   c. Design Projects
   d. Practical’s
   e. Workshops and seminars

The correct answer is all the tasks- That’s right! You’ll complete all these tasks in your degree.

End of Activity Text Version