Multidisciplinary Approach: Impact on the Development of Transversal Competencies in Engineering Education

Research Paper Recommended citation: Rodriguez-Rosales, A., Muñoz-Castillo, J., Martinez-Torteya, C. E., Delgado-Fabian, M., & Ruiz-Cantisani, M. I. (2025). Multidisciplinary Approach: Impact on the Development of Transversal Competencies in Engineering Education. In Kangaslampi, R., Langie, G., Järvinen, H.-M., & Nagy, B. (Eds.), SEFI 53rd Annual Conference. European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), Tampere, Finland. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17631700. This Conference Paper is brought to you for open access by the 53rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI) at Tampere University in Tampere, Finland. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License. Submission Type: Practice Paper MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH: IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCIES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION. A. Rodriguez-Rosales a,1, J. Muñoz-Castillo b, C.E. Martinez-Torteya c, M. Delgado-Fabiand, M. Ruiz-Cantisani e a School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico, https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1580-8243 b School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico, https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1356-260X c Department of Sustainable Development and Civil Engineering, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico, https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7598-9877 d School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3804-6077 e School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8467-3178 Conference Key Areas: Engineering skills, professional skills, and transversal skills. Curriculum development and emerging curriculum models in engineering Keywords: Multidisciplinary Teams, Higher Education, Engineering Education, Innovational Education, Transversal Competencies ABSTRACT This practice paper describes the implementation of a large-scale multidisciplinary learning experience embedded in the competency-based educational model at a multicampus university. Aiming to prepare engineering students for the demands of the 21st century, six elective courses engaged over 3,800 final-year students from ten campuses in solving real-world interdisciplinary challenges alongside 22 faculty members from diverse disciplines. Each course was designed around a complex societal or technological problem, encouraging students to work in multidisciplinary teams and apply knowledge collaboratively. Using a mixed-methods approach—including student competence evaluations, and faculty surveys—the study assessed the development of key transversal competencies: collaboration, systems thinking, and innovation. Results show a significant improvement in systems thinking and innovation in multidisciplinary contexts, while collaboration emerged as both a strength and a challenge—highlighting the complexity of teamwork across disciplines. Faculty reflections revealed that successful outcomes depended strongly on early planning, integration of course content, and clear coordination mechanisms. Student feedback emphasized the value of learning in diverse teams, particularly in enhancing communication and problemsolving skills. However, gaps in prior knowledge occasionally hindered collaboration, underscoring the importance of scaffolding and inclusive team dynamics. This paper reflects on the structural and pedagogical conditions that enable effective multidisciplinary collaboration and offers practical insights for institutions aiming to implement authentic, challenge-based learning experiences to strengthen transversal competencies in engineering education. 1 Corresponding Author A. Rodríguez [email protected] 1 INTRODUCTION The increasing complexity of global, social, and technological challenges requires a paradigm shift in engineering education. Solving global challenges demands an education aligned not only to solve but also to create possible futures to transform today's world. That is why higher education is focused on developing competencies in students, developing those skills, knowledge, and attitudes that allow them to create environments, organizations, products, teams, and solve complex problems (GonzálezPérez, 2022) . The learning process includes a greater level of depth in the global challenges that require solving them not from one perspective, but from multiple perspectives, considering the impact on different stakeholders and sectors. Therefore, solving realworld problems demands not only deep disciplinary knowledge, but also the capacity to work collaboratively across fields, integrating diverse perspectives to generate meaningful solutions (Feng, 2023; Annan-Diab, F., & Molinari, C., 2017). This need has positioned transversal and professional competencies—such as communication, systems thinking, innovation, collaboration, and empathy—at the core of current engineering curricula. Active learning engages students directly in their learning, through the connection with real problems and the development of global solutions. The characteristics of real complex problems are: (1) there is no single way to address them, (2) there are multiple interactions and factors present, and (3) there is no clarity where another problem ends, and another problem begins (Gino, 2022; Farrell, 2021). This multi-perspective environment of a real complex issue requires to be approached, not only from a specialty or individual perspective, but from a multidisciplinary approach that encourages collaborative work, creativity and innovation (Levain, 2023.; Ginström, 2021). The multidisciplinary approach is based on diversity, when people from different backgrounds, experiences and points of view work together to solve complex problems or challenges facing society today. However, to achieve this, it is important to be aware of the difficulties of multidisciplinary work, where communication barriers must be considered, as well as the boundaries and limits of disciplines, to find a holistic and comprehensive way to address the challenge, and structures must be in place to support and encourage this multidisciplinary approach (Levain, 2023; Richter, 2022; Winkens, 2024). These complex and global challenges and the need to address them from this multidisciplinary and holistic approach have led higher education institutions to see the need to strongly link the learning process with real problems and have been key factors of change in the way university education and in particular engineering education have been evolving (Storberg-Walker, 2004). Higher education institutions have responded by introducing educational models that foster multidisciplinary teamwork, problemsolving, and experiential learning, with the aim of developing both disciplinary and transversal competencies required to face the labor, social and environmental challenges. A private Mexican university with a multi-national presence in Mexico has developed a competency-based educational model, that aims to ensure the development of skills, knowledge and attitudes in students to face global challenges. It incorporates a flexible, challenge-based learning structure that aims to develop both disciplinary and transversal competencies in students through real-world experiences (Monterrey, 2018). The transversal competencies to be developed are self-knowledge, innovative entrepreneurship, social intelligence, ethics and citizenship, reasoning for complexity, communication, and digital transformation. Understanding that a key factor for the development of competencies is the link with the environment to solve complex problems, and that these are addressed with a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, it was defined that one of the requirements for the design and implementation of study plans was to have a course equivalent to 10 ECTs (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) with this approach, using challenge-based learning, in the las year: a multidisciplinary course, where students from different academic programs collaboratively address challenges posed by external partners, simulating professional engineering practice. This paper analyses the implementation and outcomes of six elective multidisciplinary courses offered under the competency-based educational model during one academic year. The objective of this study is to evaluate how multidisciplinary team collaboration contributes to the development of transversal competencies in engineering students. The following questions must be addressed: does a multidisciplinary approach facilitate the development of transversal competencies in students? Do all the cross-transversal competencies aimed to be developed in the course exhibit a high level of development, or does collaboration emerge as a particularly standout competency? 2 METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research Design, Data Collection, and Faculty Involvement The study followed mixed methods (Creswell, 2007) designed to assess the development of transversal competencies in engineering students participating in multidisciplinary courses. The methodology included four main stages: 1. Planning and instrument design: Identification of relevant variables (coordination between professors, content integration, teamwork, competency development) and design of instruments (surveys and course indicators as competences evaluation). 2. Implementation: Data collection of information through surveys conducted with teachers and the results of student competency assessments. 3. Analysis: Quantitative data analysis of competency achievement; qualitative analysis of open-ended faculty responses. 4. Conclusions: Summary of the results obtained, with identification of strengths, challenges, and areas that could benefit from further refinement with respect to the design and implementation of multidisciplinary learning. A total of 22 professors participated in the survey, representing six courses across ten campuses. The survey focused on coordination between instructors, integration of course content, quality of student teamwork, and perceived competency development. The student data set included over 3,800 participants. These students from multidisciplinary courses are a subset of the total population evaluated institutionally. The global results were derived from institutional evaluations conducted across all finalyear engineering students. Evaluation metrics included competency development results, based on defined indicators, and reflected achievement rates, not average. The multidisciplinary courses are offered to all 18 engineering programs at the institution and are electives in nature. Students who choose to take them come from programs in the areas of food, agribusiness, biotechnology, biomedical engineering, civil engineering, sustainable development, data science and mathematics, physics, electronics, innovation, industrial, mechanical, mechatronics, chemistry, nanotechnology, computing, digital transformation, and robotics. 2.2 Educational Context and Multidisciplinary Courses The last year of engineering programs includes a multidisciplinary course that integrates the competency-based educational model´s principles: challenge-based learning, flexibility, student-centered experiences, and inspiring mentorship. This educational strategy addresses the need to prepare students for increasingly complex and interconnected professional contexts. Six elective multidisciplinary courses were offered during the 2023 academic year, implemented simultaneously across ten campuses. These courses were designed to foster the development of both disciplinary and transversal competencies by engaging students from different programs in solving real challenges provided by external partners. Each course was aligned with a specific theme relevant to industry and society. Table 1 summarizes the courses and the competencies they targeted. Considering an analysis of the contents of the three transversal competencies (systems thinking, innovation and collaboration) in the 6 multidisciplinary courses, determining a high, medium and low-level impact. Table 1. Multidisciplinary Courses and Competences Course Name (Block) Transversal competence Circular Economy, Materials and Sustainable Processes Systemic thinking Agile Project Management Resilient Organizations Systemic thinking Strategic Planning: From Vision to Action Collaboration. Systemic thinking Digital Transformation for Civil Society Organizations Recognition and empathy. Cutting-edge technologies. Systemic thinking. Technological Entrepreneurship Innovation Systemic thinking Each course was taught collaboratively by professors from different academic backgrounds, emphasizing content integration and authentic teamwork. The duration of each course was five weeks, during which multidisciplinary student teams addressed complex, real-world problems through guided, collaborative learning. 3 RESULTS AND INSIGHTS 3.1 Description of the Multidisciplinary Course and the competencies The multidisciplinary course is a high-impact educational unit designed for the final stage of the academic journey of engineering students. Its curricular design intentionally integrates content from multiple areas of knowledge around a complex challenge that demands the articulation of technical, strategic, and social competencies. Each course is composed of a set of coordinated topics — disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transversal — that converge into a shared learning space. This structure allows students to earn academic credits while working on a single project, facilitating the integration of learning through active methodologies, iterative processes, and specialized faculty guidance. The challenge unfolds over an extended period (typically 5 weeks), enabling teams to progress from problem understanding to the design and implementation of high-quality solutions. These may take the form of functional prototypes, strategic plans, simulations, or business models, depending on the thematic focus of the course. The pedagogical value of the multidisciplinary course lies in its ability to replicate real-world professional dynamics within a formative and safe environment, while challenging students to make decisions, manage resources, negotiate solutions, and defend their proposals with both technical rigor and ethical grounding. It is important to present the reference framework used to observe the level of development of three key transversal competencies: Innovation, Collaboration, and Systems Thinking. The following table (see Table 2) describes both the upper and lower levels of mastery —Proficient and Beginning— which enable the assessment of student performance in the context of complex challenge-based learning experiences, from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. Table 2 Description of levels of competency mastery Competency Proficient level of achievement of the competency Beginning level of achievement of the competency Innovation: The ability to generate valuable ideas and solutions through structured, iterative processes that include experimentation, validation, and learning in uncertain or adverse contexts. Designs and validates prototypes through rigorous experimentation to ensure contextual applicability. Designs poorly validated solutions with limited relevance or functionality. Collaboration: The capacity to build agreements and interact effectively within diverse teams, recognizing and leveraging differences and individual strengths. Actively contributes and communicates to meet group goals and agreements. Limited participation and communication; group goals are unmet. Systems Thinking: The skill to understand complex problems through an integrated lens, identifying variables, interdependencies, and crossdisciplinary relationships. Identifies key variables and explains their interrelations across disciplines. Omits relevant variables or misrepresents connections among them. To assess the development of key transversal competencies—Collaboration, Innovation, and Systems Thinking—a qualitative classification (Very High, High, Medium) was used for each block. Ratings were based on the instructional design, challenge complexity, expected deliverables, and the nature of team interaction. • Collaboration: Evaluated by team interdependence, disciplinary diversity, and stakeholder engagement. Blocks with active co-creation and external collaboration were rated High or Very High. • Innovation: Assessed through the depth of ideation, novelty, and use of disruptive technologies. Full-cycle solution design led to higher ratings. • Systems Thinking: Measured by the complexity and multidimensionality of the challenges, including modeling and interdependencies. These ratings reflect pedagogical emphasis rather than performance ranking. Faculty teams collaboratively assigned levels based on their direct involvement in course design and implementation. Table 3 summarizes the classification by block. This table shows that in all courses, even when the competencies are not formally stated, they are naturally developed as part of the course's purpose and the multidisciplinary challenge to be solved. Table 3. Comparative analysis of the 3 transversal competencies in the 6 courses Course Challenge Description Challenge Composition Collaboration Innovation Systems Thinking Circular Economy, Materials and Sustainable Processes Revalorization of products and materials for circular business models. Interdisciplinary teams analyze materials, develop circularity strategies, and design a business model. High – collaborative work in materials analysis and business model development. Medium – focused on revalorizatio n strategies and circular design. High – understanding of material systems and sustainability. Agile Project Management Development of immediateimpact solutions for social organizations, with delivery and implementation in 5 weeks. Interdisciplinary teams identify problems, plan, execute solutions, and measure impact for a social organization. High – close collaboration to implement real-world solutions. High – functional solutions with immediate applicability. High – integrated vision of technical, social, and logistical dimensions. Resilient Organizations Evaluation of disruptions in the value chain and design of emerging countermeasure s through simulation. Interdisciplinary teams' model and simulate real-world value chain disruptions to design resilient strategies. Medium – coordinated modeling and analysis with faculty guidance. Medium – focused on designing emergent strategies. Very High – analysis of complex and dynamic systems. Strategic Planning: From Vision to Action Design of a clear business strategy through a participatory process with an external partner. Interdisciplinary teams conduct prospective and situational analysis and design a strategic plan with actionoriented initiatives. High – cocreation of strategies through direct team participation. Medium – design of tailored and executable strategies. Medium – interrelation among strategy, resources, and context. Course Challenge Description Challenge Composition Collaboration Innovation Systems Thinking Digital Transformation for Civil Society Organizations Diagnosis and implementation of digital transformation strategies toward the metaverse. Interdisciplinary teams assess digital maturity, define strategies, and develop digital transformation prototypes. High – integration of proposals with strategic and technical vision. High – disruptive technology proposals aligned with business needs. High – analysis of processes, culture, technology, and environment. Technological Entrepreneurship Innovative technological solutions aligned with the SDGs, transformed into viable business proposals. Interdisciplinary teams identify a relevant SDG, develop a technological solution, build a prototype, and design a business model and exit strategy. Very High – collective creativity for socially impactful solutions. Very High – full-cycle development from ideation to innovative business proposal. High – systemic thinking in addressing social and technological challenges. 3.2 Quantitative & Qualitative Results: Students and Professors´ Perspective An analysis of 3 of the transversal competencies to be developed and evaluated in the multidisciplinary courses is made, the results of the evaluation of the 3 competencies in the same period (year 2023) of the 6 groups that are multidisciplinary courses are obtained, comparing with that obtained for the total evaluation of the students who were evaluated in all the courses of their curriculum (of 18 academic engineering programs) ( See Table 4). It is interesting to observe in the table that students who participate in a multidisciplinary course have a higher level of achievement in the development of their competencies of systems thinking and innovation, compared to the total population evaluated in the year 2023. However, collaboration competency shows a lower result, which is congruent with what the literature indicates in relation to the difficulties and barriers that should be considered with the multidisciplinary approach (Levain, 2023; Richter & Kjellgren, 2022; Winkens et al, 2024). Table 4. Analysis of competency assessment results (Students in the multidisciplinary courses represent a subset of the total population evaluated institutionally. Results are based on achievement rates, not averages) Competencies # evaluated students Global Results # evaluated students Multidisciplinary Courses Results Systemic thinking 21,314 58% 1,795 75% Innovation 6,734 63% 887 76% Collaboration 3,350 82% 1,244 79% The analysis of the professors´ survey applied to the multidisciplinary courses taught during 2023 developed the next reflections. Regarding the opinion of the professors in relation to the teaching coordination between them with the modules and challenges offered (see Fig. 1), 59% consider that a good or exceptional job is done, according to the established scale (1. Very poor-5. Exceptional). In the opinion of the professors regarding the integration of the different contents and the challenge, 46% consider that there is a good integration (see Fig.2). This factor is relevant because it is expected that the contents are intimately linked to the challenge to be solved as a team. And since different disciplinary areas are required, sometimes this is not achieved. Likewise, in relation to the opinion of professors regarding the performance of students in multidisciplinary teams, 59% of them consider it to be between good and exceptional. (see Fig.3). Two professors emphasized the importance of coordination and early alignment: “When we planned together from the beginning, students noticed the coherence and felt more engaged.” Another teacher reflected: “The most challenging part was merging our disciplinary perspectives without losing depth.” Figure 1 Coordination Figure 1 Coordination among professors Figure 2 Integration of modules content in the multidisciplinary project Figure 3 Student work in multidisciplinary teams From professors´ perspective, the evaluation of the coordination between professors and content integration showed significant variability. While some professors rated the coordination highly, others highlighted difficulties related to poor communication and an uneven academic workload across the courses. Although good collaboration was achieved in certain groups, a lack of interaction became a major obstacle in others. To improve this coordination, a longer planning process that involves all professors from the early stages would be necessary, facilitating better integration of modules. From students’ perspective, regarding teamwork and the development of transversal skills, the results reflect that these aspects are key in multidisciplinary courses. Based on open-ended responses from institutional course surveys, students frequently mentioned competencies such as communication, systems thinking, and innovation as important learnings. However, challenges in student interaction were observed, particularly when there were significant differences in knowledge levels within the teams, potentially compromising collaborative work.