A liberal approach to teaching advanced engineering courses

In this paper, the authors elaborate on observations made and experiences gained from adopting a liberal approach to teaching advanced engineering courses offered either as electives to final year undergraduate students or as core in postgraduate coursework programmes at the University of South Australia (UniSA), Adelaide, Australia. The courses are aimed at giving students competence in applying advanced concepts to the solution of widely ranging engineering problems. The emphasis is on harnessing the creative potential of students in developing skills in a supportive environment that fosters interest, motivation and initiative. A number of such courses is delivered in intensive mode, during which a mixture of structured and non-structured tasks are tackled. This is followed by a period during which each student undertakes an advanced project.