Integrative Design and Project-Based Learning in AE Education-A Critical Review

In a news article released in March of 2015, Penn State stated its commitment to President Obama's challenge to prepare students, particularly undergraduate students, to "solve 'Grand Challenges'-complex yet achievable goals to improve national and international health, security, sustainability and quality of life in the 21st century." In this article College of Engineering Dean Amr Elnashai noted that it is critically important to prepare engineers who are trained to address global challenges of the 21st century through interdisciplinary and transnational teamwork. Training students, the future practitioners and visionaries for the built environment, in the art and process of integrative design is a paramount challenge. The ability to collaborate with others and across disciples is widely recognized as a key to success, but there are potential barriers. The authors of this paper see the holistic consideration of curriculum as an opportunity to overcome barriers, while positioning Penn State's programs as leaders in AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) education. Toward this end, this paper is simultaneously a reflection and a proposition. It explores ways to build upon and reinforce existing cross-discipline, cross-college strengths in order to envision opportunities for education that can address "grand challenges" of concern when designing the built environment.