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Multidisciplinary Research Methods for Engineers

Engineering is no longer limited to working in a single domain; nowadays engineers increasingly work in multidisciplinary fields. After this course you will be able to carry out all stages of multidisciplinary research using appropriate research methods.

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There is one session available:

After a course session ends, it will be archivedOpens in a new tab.
Starts May 26
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Multidisciplinary Research Methods for Engineers

Engineering is no longer limited to working in a single domain; nowadays engineers increasingly work in multidisciplinary fields. After this course you will be able to carry out all stages of multidisciplinary research using appropriate research methods.

6 weeks
4–6 hours per week
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
Free
Optional upgrade available

There is one session available:

After a course session ends, it will be archivedOpens in a new tab.
Starts May 26
Enroll
Multidisciplinary Research Methods for Engineers

About this course

Skip About this course

The use of data to understand phenomena and evaluate designs and interventions in different disciplines is increasingly evident. As a result, engineers and other applied scientists frequently find themselves needing to collaborate in multidisciplinary fields when carrying out research to remain innovative.

This course will help you to become a successful multidisciplinary researcher in industry, non-profit, or academia, and be more efficient and successful as you will know where the pitfalls are! This course explains the fundamentals on how to plan and carry out state-of-the-art qualitative and quantitative research in different phases of an innovation or research project.

The course has been designed by a team of experienced, multidisciplinary researchers in education, engineering and research methodologies and will also feature experts in the field of research methodologies as guest lecturers. In the course you will be working towards creating a project plan for your research, giving you a head-start in your research project.

The interuniversity, interdisciplinary Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Center for Education and Learning is a leader in multidisciplinary technological research and innovation projects. Learning from leading experts in the field you will learn to apply the best practices in your own context.

At a glance

  • Institution: DelftX
  • Subject: Engineering
  • Level: Intermediate
  • Prerequisites:

    This course is aimed at new and aspiring researchers with a background in Engineering and other STEM related disciplines who are working or going to work in multidisciplinary environments who want to learn more about this type of research. There are no prerequisites.

  • Language: English
  • Video Transcript: English
  • Associated skills: Research Methodologies, Innovation, Project Planning, Research, Multidisciplinary Research, Quantitative Research, Head Start (Education Program)

What you'll learn

Skip What you'll learn
  • describe what multidisciplinary research is and its associated challenges and opportunities in different disciplines.
  • set up each phase of scientific research: the literature study, the theoretical and conceptual frameworks, the experimental and study design, the choice of research methods and data collection, the data analyses and the interpretation, validation and verification of the results and discussions of the outcome.
  • understand and select the appropriate methods for a research question in terms of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods including formative and summative evaluation studies.
  • explain and the importance of research ethics, data management and guidelines for human research ethics in your research design and practice.
  • write a research plan for a multidisciplinary case, including formulating a research objective and research questions, research set up, planning and reflection.

Syllabus

Skip Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction to research

  • What constitutes multidisciplinary scientific research and how is it used
  • Structure of research: Scientific method and engineering design cycle
  • Language of research
  • What to research and how to find out more
  • What is a research objective and a research question
  • How to formulate a research objective and a research question?

Week 2: Phases and methods of scientific research

  • Research questions and hypotheses
  • Desktop research, literature study
  • Theoretical modeling and conceptual frameworks
  • Experimental/Study design
  • Data collection
  • Evaluation, validation and verification
  • Research ethics and human resource research ethics

Week 3: Research method selection and study design

Understand and select the appropriate method for a research question in terms of:

  • Qualitative methods
  • Quantitative methods
  • Mixed method approaches
  • Formative and summative evaluation studies

Week 4: Data collection and analysis

  • Data collection and data management
  • Data analysis (qualitative and quantitative)
  • Data interpretation
  • How to validate and verify data

Week 5: Research management, documentation and publishing

  • How to report research results
  • Reporting multidisciplinary work
  • Reporting in different disciplines
  • Project management
  • Scientific publishing including open science

Week 6: Verified certificate only: Research plan writing

  • Writing a project plan based on a multidisciplinary research case where students can choose from which discipline they approach the problem.

About the instructors

Ways to take this course

Choose your path when you enroll.
Verified Track
Audit Track

Price

$149 USD

Free

Access to course materials

Unlimited

Limited

Expires on Jul 7

World class institutions and universities

edX support

Shareable certificate upon completion

Graded assignments and exams

Read our FAQsin a new tab about frequently asked questions on these tracks.

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