ADVANCES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION - VOLUME 10 ISSUE 4 - Evaluation of a Hybrid Learning Block Model for Engineering Design Interview Skill Building

Oct 15, 2026

Stakeholder interviews support engineering designers in defining design problems and collecting feedback on solution concepts, yet students often struggle with recommended interview practices such as asking open-ended questions and mirroring interviewee language. This study examines the Hybrid Learning Block (HLB) model—a blend of online review, feedback, in-person coaching, and reflection—to build engineering students’ design interviewing skills. Prior HLB work targeted concept generation, needs assessments, and needs statements, and this study focuses on interview preparation and execution using stakeholder-focused measures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background

Prior Approaches to Design Interview Pedagogy

The Hybrid Learning Block Model

| | Ad | vances in Engineering Edu | cation | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Key words: Stakeholder interviews, asynchronous learning, engineering design 2022: VOLUME 10 ISSUE 4 57 ADVANCES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION Evaluation of a Hybrid Learning Block Model for Engineering Design Interview Skill Building INTRODUCTION Stakeholder interviews are an important source of information that can help engineering designers define design problems and gather feedback on solution concepts (Dieter and Schmidt 2013) . However, studies have shown that engineering students may struggle to implement recommended design interview practices, such as asking open-ended questions (Bano et al. 2019) and adopting interviewee language (Mohedas, Daly, and Sienko 2014) . These interview struggles may, in turn, limit engineering students’ abilities to develop deep understandings of stakeholder needs and requirements to support design decision-making. This study explored the use of a novel pedagogical intervention – the Hybrid Learning Block (HLB) model (Young et al. 2017; “Socially Engaged Design Academy” 2022)– to help engineering students develop design interviewing skills. The HLB model consists of online content review, feedback, in-person coaching, and reflection. Previous studies have investigated impacts of the HLB model on generating solution concepts (Lee, Daly, and Vadakumcherry 2018), conducting needs assessments (Loweth, Daly, Liu, et al. 2020a), and writing needs statements (Loweth, Daly, Liu, et al. 2020b) . The goal of this study was to investigate the HLB model as a tool to support students in preparing and conducting interviews with design stakeholders. BACKGROUND Previous Approaches to Design Interview Pedagogy Prior literature has discussed several approaches to teaching design interviewing within engineering. For instance, Thompson & Beak (2007) suggested that collaborative learning – i.e., students working together in groups to complete a certain task – can be a useful pedagogical approach to support students in developing effective interview questions. Zowghi & Paryani (2003) suggested that roleplay activities, where engineering students alternate between interviewer and interviewee roles, can support students in developing interviewing skills. Additionally, Ferrari et al. (2020) suggested that a combination of roleplay, peer review, and self-assessment can help engineering students exhibit fewer interviewing mistakes. Prior work has also described several ways to evaluate the efficacy of pedagogical interventions related to design interviewing. Zowghi & Paryani (2003), who implemented their intervention within the context of a requirements engineering course, gathered regular feedback from students and teaching staff and provided a detailed account of lessons learned from their course experience. Other studies have evaluated pedagogical interventions by comparing the interviewing knowledge and skills of students pre-and post-intervention. For example, Bano et al. (2019) used a pre-post study design to evaluate the impact 58 2022: VOLUME 10 ISSUE 4 ADVANCES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION Evaluation of a Hybrid Learning Block Model for Engineering Design Interview Skill Building of a pedagogical approach consisting of collaborative roleplaying and corrective feedback. However, their study detected few changes in the quality of student interviews – which the authors defined asthe frequency with which students exhibited common interviewing mistakes – due to their intervention. Building upon this work, Ferrari et al. (2020) adopted a pre-post study design and demonstrated an improvement in student interviewing approaches. Ferrari et al. (2020) also based their findings on the quantity of student interviewing mistakes. Research on improving design interviewing skills has not often focused on other potential measures, such as the degree to which students employ effe

FAQs

What problem does the study address about engineering design interviews?

Engineering students may struggle to implement interview practices like asking open-ended questions and adopting interviewee language, which can limit their understanding of stakeholder needs and requirements for design decisions.

What is the Hybrid Learning Block (HLB) model used in the study?

The HLB model combines online content review and knowledge checks, personalized feedback, in-person coaching for applying skills in open-ended situations, and self-reflections on learning progress.

How does the study position its purpose for the HLB model?

The study aims to evaluate the HLB model as a tool to help students prepare for and conduct interviews with design stakeholders.

Oct 15, 2026

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