Holistic educational development integrated through mechatronics design

This paper presents an approach in educational development of resources and programs based on multidisciplinary concept. The development is built around the process of mechatronics program delivery that is currently introduced in tertiary education within RMIT University. Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary engineering area that incorporates mechanical, electrical, electronics, computer and information systems. Students studying Mechatronics Engineering expand their knowledge of various systems and scientific areas and integrate them in a working system. Through work integrated learning, students are encouraged to obtain new knowledge and skills by doing the job, not just learning from the textbooks and attending lectures. Subject material is delivered in variety of ways, started with face-to-face delivery, seminars, tutorials and lab sessions. The key component of this education is project work conducted in small teams. Finally, University conducts surveys after every single subject delivery and the results of the latest survey are presented here. According to the survey, students are extremely satisfied with the new approach that focuses on problem solving, project and exploration work.