Are engineering teachers ready to leverage the power of play to teach transversal skills?

What conceptions do teachers hold about learning activities to develop students’ transversal skills? This qualitative exploration at a research-intensive engineering school draws on interviews and focus groups to explore teachers’ ideas about developing individual transversal skills. We frame our analysis with a model that distinguishes three phases for skill development: conceptual knowledge (knowing), procedural skills (doing) and meta-cognitive/emotional reflection (learning from doing). We are particularly interested in the potential for play to create favorable conditions for developing transversal skills by enabling (i) focused experiential learning, (ii) low-stakes experimentation, (iii) rapid feedback, (iv) opportunity for reflection. In the interviews, the potential to teach conceptual disciplinary knowledge dominated teachers’ perceptions and transversal skills were sidelined. Focus group participants, just after a hands-on activity, primarily addressed transversal procedural skills in their comments and overlooked the conceptual knowledge underpinning these skills. The importance afforded to meta-cognitive and meta-emotional reflection varied greatly amongst teachers. Our analysis suggests that the three-level model can assist teachers by providing a structure to ensure each level is accounted for in experiential activities. We see promise for addressing transversal skills including sustainability, risk assessment, ethical reasoning and emotional regulation.