Programme Integrating Courses Fighting to Get Engineers to Reflect on Non-technical Topics

Programme Integrating Courses (PICs) aim to tie students, teachers and courses in education programmes closer together. In this study, we investigate three PICs, as part of engineering programmes in computer science and media technology. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of how students and mentors experience the PICs with a focus on the assessment and the relationship between students, and students and mentors. We used a mixed method approach, interviewed 22 students and 6 mentors, and sent out questionnaires to all 25 mentors and all students from two of the three courses (630+470 students). The results showed that the students and mentors appreciated the social aspects of the courses, getting to know each other and share experiences. However, some were uncomfortable reflecting upon the given non-technical topics. On a general level, the students stated that their mentors assessed their reflections correctly but they were sceptical towards being graded on a scale other than pass/fail.