Stem-oriented Project-based Assignments in teaching Systems Thinking Subject for Engineering Students in Vietnam

Abstract

Systems Thinking is a necessary subject for engineering students to develop their logical and systematic mindset. At Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam, the Systems Thinking subject is implemented with many teaching methods including STEM approach. Through carrying out STEM-oriented project-based assignments (SPAs), students develop their technical/ professional competence and soft skills including communication skill, presentation skill and team work skill. Besides, their learning motivation/ learning interest is also improved. According to the survey results with 150 students who underwent the Systems Thinking subject in the school years from 2021 to 2023, the STEM skills as well as systems thinking of engineering students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education have been better after the educational experiments. The paper also proposes some solutions for lecturers to overcome the challenges in implementing SPAs related to course time management, difficulty in choosing SPA topics, money cost and material costs for learning products, conflicts of students in teamwork. Recommendations are that lecturers should design SPA topics that are relevant to learning objectives linked with the socio-technical/professional context, limit the number of SPAs (no more than two or three projects for each subject per semester), use both large and small projects instead of only large projects, encourage the use of recycled materials. Lecturers should give fair support for different groups of students and restructure learning groups when necessary to create a favorable learning atmosphere. The STEM-oriented project-based assignments can be one of the forms of teaching organization, that brings benefits for implementing many other subjects in engineering education.