Intercultural and Active Classroom for Teaching and Learning Biomimicry: A Case Study with Singaporean and American Undergraduate Engineering Students

Biomimicry is an engineering field where inspiration from nature is leveraged to engineer sustainable solutions. Biomimicry is not a subject typically taught in undergraduate curriculum. This study explores the effects of intercultural context on the learning of biomimicry. Visiting students from the United States of America and home students from Singapore gathered for a one-day workshop on biomimicry in Singapore. The workshop consisted of a lecture with in-class activities and laboratory experiments in groups, followed by students' presentations. The students' responses to pre- and post-workshop surveys are analyzed, along with their answers from the in-class activities and their presentations. The results show that the international context of the biomimicry workshop made an overall positive contribution to the motivation, appreciation, and enjoyment of all students. Some differences were observed between the visiting and home students, which likely stemmed from the visiting students being better prepared for the event. However, despite high levels of enjoyment and communication, the learning outcomes lacked technical depth and sustainability focus. This suggests the need for a consistent and higher level of preparation and guidance for all participating students on these topics. This study serves as a preliminary example of a workshop that explores the global theme of biomimicry in an international and intercultural setting. Similar workshops could be conducted with larger and more diverse student populations for more robust results. This work could inspire other educators in engineering to explore ways to prepare students for more holistic education.