Simulation Action Learning (SAL): a methodology for teaching design thinking

Abstract

Problem-based learning (PBL) is now regarded as being one of the most noteworthy innovations in the area of education for the professions. The approach had its beginning in the education of medical students but has since been adopted in many other disciplines such as engineering, and has become part of mainstream pedagogical thinking. Recently there has been a body of literature on the subject of using simulation-based learning (SBL) as an enhancement of PBL. However, much of the current literature largely confines simulation-based learning to computer applications such as games. Nonetheless some scholars have emphasised that simulation-based learning is a technique not just a technology. Consequently, this ongoing work aims to make a contribution by transferring the simulation concept to engineering education. The paper proposes the idea of simulation-action learning (SAL) as an enhancement of PBL to distinguish it from computer simulation. It outlines how this approach is being implemented to inculcate Design Thinking in a capstone module of a Mechanical Engineering Product Design Stream.