There is a need to ensure engineering students develop skills that cannot be assessed in traditional written examinations yet are essential for work as engineer; and at the same time bring realism into the study of engineering by integrating previous experience of theory and practice. This necessitates that a new approach of training should be incorporated into the traditional lecture-based engineering curriculum (Heywood, 2005; Stojcevski, and Fitrio, 2008; Holgado-Vicente, Gandia-Aguera, Barcala-Montejano, and Rodríguez-Sevillano, 2012). Such a training programme should equip engineering graduates with excellent planning, communication skills, team working ability and sound analytical and evaluation skills in line with employers’ expectations (Stojcevski and Fitrio, 2008; Anderson, Torrens, Lay, and Duke, 2007). The case study, an innovative educational teaching and learning methodology grounded in social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1997; Mayer, 2007), inspires a higher degree of students’ involvement in learning activity (Gibson, 2005; Holgado-Vicente, Gandia-Aguera, Barcala-Montejano, and Rodríguez-Sevillano, 2012). In social cognitive theory, students are expected to engage in socially mediated group problem-solving processes. The case study is implemented with students learning through engagement with engineering projects similar to that which will be encountered in professional practice (Fernandez-Samaca, and Ramírez, 2010; Holgado-Vicente, Gandia-Aguera, Barcala-Montejano, and Rodríguez-Sevillano, 2012). The incorporation of the case study into the materials selection and design curriculum is aimed at meeting the need for a new approach of engineering training which ensures the development and assessment of work-based skills that cannot be imparted and examined via traditional instructional delivery and written examinations respectively.
