Our aim is for the Senior Design Challenge to make a contribution to all of the following experiential learning outcomes, increasing students’ confidence and ability to:

  1. Innovate and take risks
    • Self-efficacy: belief in one’s own ability to perform well in a variety of circumstances
    • Resolve: ability to act despite uncertainty of success
    • Creativity: ability to sample ideas and retrieve or form unconventional knowledge
  2. Solve complex problems
    • Complex reasoning: ability to extend and refine knowledge by comparing, contrasting, abstracting
    • Incorporating perspectives: capacity to understand where others’ ideas come from and negotiate/apply perspectives
  3. Collaborate across differences
    • Communication skills: ability to effectively convey information to others
    • Cultural intelligence: ability to function effectively in culturally diverse contexts
    • Empathy: aptitude for understanding another person’s inner experiences and feelings
  4. Think critically and reflect on learning
    • Connecting theory to practice: competence in applying abstract ideas to connect situations
    • Reflection: capacity to intentionally explore and appraise experiences to create meaning for the benefit of learning