As automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence increasingly shape the future of work and society, mechatronics education offers a powerful opportunity to prepare students as not just users, but thoughtful designers of technology. This conceptual paper proposes a research-informed pedagogical model that deliberately sequences three frameworks: Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL), Human-Centered Design (HCD), and Project-Based Learning (PjBL), to scaffold students’ development of creativity, systems thinking, computational thinking, and ethical problem-solving.
Drawing on current literature and practical classroom examples, the model supports a progression from open-ended inquiry to empathetic ideation and finally to the prototyping of real-world solutions. While IBL fosters curiosity, critical questioning and systems-level understanding, HCD ensures that students attend to human needs, values and contexts as they frame and explore technological problems. PjBL then provides the structure for sustained collaborative design work that integrates learning across science, mathematics, and digital technologies. Rather than treating these pedagogies as parallel or interchangeable, this paper presents a unified sequence that promotes both cognitive depth and human-centred innovation.
Although each framework is well-documented in STEM education research, there is limited work that explicitly models their integration or examines how sequencing them can deepen student engagement and ethical awareness in K–12 mechatronics. This paper contributes to educational scholarship by addressing this gap and offering a practical model for teachers seeking to move beyond task-based coding towards transformative, interdisciplinary learning. The model is illustrated through classroom cases including the design of autonomous vehicles, where students explore concepts of motion, geometry, decision-making and user experience. These examples demonstrate how students can be supported to transition from programming basic movement to designing inclusive technologies using real-time sensor data, user interviews, and iterative prototyping.
In a climate of continual curriculum reform, this work provides timely guidance for educators and policymakers seeking pedagogical clarity in technology education. By aligning curriculum outcomes with authentic design challenges, this approach empowers students to code with purpose, design with empathy, and reflect critically on their impact. It supports a shift towards systems-oriented, future-focused learning that prepares students to navigate and help shape, the complex socio-technical environments of tomorrow.