Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 692 de 957
(eg, drawings combined with verbal description) does not achieve adequate
understanding, it is imperative that additional means and other combinations are
progressively used until adequate understanding is achieved. And if that still does not
work, it may be necessary to arrange a “break-out” from the meeting for a more intensive
study of the issue, for instance where design professionals visit the assembly line to
understand a particular issue of construction or assembly.
Ability to follow, ie to accept the advice of other members (regardless of the others’
professional or occupational status) when those members’ expertise is most relevant to
discussion, ie when the issue-based authority is elsewhere. This means to listen and learn
from other members in order to be able to identify technical conflicts and consequences,
in terms of the present design process, subsequent fabrication and long-term performance
of the design product.
Ability to consider and generate alternative approaches in the interest of achieving
consensus and optimum progress towards an optimum outcome. This is possibly the most
important individual professional/technical ability because it contributes to the core
purpose of having a design team. In the early stages of design, various ideas must be
“floated” from various members so that the most likely agglomerations of ideas from all
members can be identified for further development and refinement. Then, during the
process of development and refinement, every team inevitably reaches impasses where a
proposal in the best intent from one part of the team can be seen to contradict proposals
from other parts of the team, or where the consequences in manufacture or in longer term
operation of the product are likely to be less than satisfactory. In such situations, in order
to move forward, it is necessary for all members to be able to consider alternative
suggestions from other members in terms of consequences in their own fields of expertise,
and to put forward alternative proposals from the respective field of expertise that might
help to achieve a new consensus and overcome the impasse.
Ability to abstain (but maintain engagement with the team) when discussion is about
matters outside the particular member’s area of expertise. This ability is sometimes
referred to as “being a good listener”, and is closely related to balanced confidence
referred to above.
Ability (flexibility) to move freely between roles of leader, follower and abstainer,
sometimes from minute to minute within a meeting, as discussion flows from one focus to
another and as issue-based authority passes from member to member. Every team
meeting changes focus from time to time as one issue impinges on another, then another
and so on. Even the best-organised team meeting will reveal unexpected conflicts or
opportunities that must be settled before further progress can be made on the original
focal issue. During these excursions away from the original focal issue, each member must
be flexible enough to move between roles as the focus changes in order to maintain
progress of the team as a whole.
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011