When Engineering and Design Students Collaborate: The Case of a Website Development Workshop

Abstract

Designers are often characterized by their creativity, whereas engineers are often characterized by their analytical thinking style. Both capabilities are vital in the new economic era, particularly for innovation. Thus, the collaboration between designers and engineers is crucial and should be fostered by academia and industry. Our preliminary research examined perceptions and interactions among 14 students in engineering, art and design programs during a website development workshop. The research indicates that students enjoyed the experience and found it educational and socially engaging. The data collected through questionnaires and observations were qualitatively analyzed, revealing that students learned each other’s jargon, conducted discussions that addressed both technological and design concerns and considered various opinions leading to joint decision making. Importantly, one of the teams was invited to continue development of its project in an entrepreneurship accelerator program. This study sheds light on the potential of multidisciplinary teams in development processes in general and in website development processes in particular.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Workshop Entry Questionnaire

Welcome to the workshop “The Internet Sphere and Our Lives Sphere, Reflection and Alteration”. The workshop staff is interested in documenting your attitude to the workshop and to topics related to it. We would like to ask you to answer some questions at the beginning of the workshop. Thank you for your cooperation.

Appendix 2: Workshop Summary Questionnaire

Towards the end of the workshop, you are requested to give the workshop organizers a feedback about the workshop activities and personal experiences you went through as individual and as a member of a joint team of engineering and design. Thank you for your cooperation.