Making Connections: A Theory of Synergistic Learning in Engineering

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This engineering education research project will investigate synergistic learning, the processes by which students integrate disparate aspects of learning into a coherent whole. The work will be conducted through curriculum innovation over four years of an environmental engineering program at the University of Georgia. The main mechanism is establishing ?Synthesis and Design Studios? to integrate disparate knowledge from STEM, humanities, and social science courses. The project also seeks to understand the mechanisms of synergistic learning and integrating this understanding into a meta-theory that connects learning theory with engineering education. In particular the project seeks to understand the ?Ah Ha!? moments when various fragments of knowledge fall into place. The project builds on a strong link between engineering education research in the area of synergistic learning and pedagogical methods and the Synthesis and Design Studios students take for all four years of the program?s curriculum.