Experiencing curriculum coherence in undergraduate mechanical engineering and related programmes: Four institutional cases in China and Russia

Undergraduate mechanical engineering programmes are commonly designed around a cumulative logic: foundational knowledge in mathematics, physics and engineering sciences is expected to support later professional and application-oriented learning. Whether students experience this as connected and coherent learning is a different question. This paper examines how undergraduate students in mechanical engineering and closely related programmes experience curriculum coherence at two Chinese and two Russian technical universities. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 29 students and recent graduates, we identify three patterns: how students recognise meaningful connections across foundational, professional and application-oriented knowledge; where workload, sequencing and coordination problems disrupt cumulative learning; and how practical and project-based formats indicate whether earlier knowledge has become usable. The four cases show variation in how these disruptions are experienced across institutional and programme contexts, without forming a consistent national pattern. We argue that curriculum coherence is produced or disrupted at specific delivery points. For those responsible for designing, coordinating, and teaching undergraduate engineering programmes, this points to concrete, addressable conditions.