Bridging theory with real world research experience: Co-teaching Engineering Biotechnology with R&D professionals

•Co-teaching with R&D professionals was integrated into Engineering Biotechnology course.•The applicability & usefulness of the co-teaching approach was examined.•Bringing R&D professionals into the class positively impacted on students’ learning.•The students’ level of confidence was improved after participating in the IL workshop.•Managing the lecture and dividing the tasks along the lines of expertise were found to be crucial.

This study examined the usefulness of co-teaching with research and development (R&D) professionals to integrate real world research experience into an Engineering Biotechnology course. This research suggests that the need to expose students to post-graduate engineering careers and to prepare them to enter real world engineering is crucial. Two sessions were team-taught by the course lecturer in collaboration with two R&D professionals from local industries. The course lecturer covered the theoretical parts, whereas practicing R&D engineers exposed students to current R&D works. Quantitative and qualitative data on the usefulness of the co-teaching sessions were collected from students and R&D professionals’ surveys, a student interview and peer observation feedback. It was found that bringing R&D professionals into the Engineering Biotechnology class positively impacted on students’ learning. A comparison was also made between the two co-teaching sessions. The evidence showed that managing the lecture and deliverables, and dividing the tasks along the lines of expertise is the key to providing a successful co-teaching session.

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