That students get together and conduct their seminars themselves is a good thing. Also appropriate, is that sensible preparation is made, e.g., that a certain amount of compulsory reading is done beforehand.

How could anyone criticise any part of this?, indeed, one should at least try. My own days as a student are already decades ago and still, I wouldn't have missed them for anything. Why should I, where technology is so fast- moving?

Simply because studying is more than just the gathering of facts. Education has aspects which are horizontal as well as vertical, i.e., it broadens the mind and expands it upwards as well. The one can't exist without the other.

Those who simply gather facts or in the worst case, learn things parrot-wise, are not studying. One must also be able to classify what one has learnt. Presumably, every office, that is not purely paperless, is closer to accessing the information therein and more.

Indeed, it goes even further, because studying should actually also convey a type of data-system. When one stores something on a hard-disc, one has to decide where it is to be saved, into this particular folder or to one of its sub-directories. Just how really decisive is the information?

Just one example: One believes to have learnt, that a Diesel engine cannot run properly using petrol fuel, at least not without installing a sort of additional electric ignition. Indeed, there have already been successful trials, e.g. with a MAM-M-engine. This is the type of information that one should not simply collect.

Now, this doesn't fit into the present filing system. So, one digs deeper and learns, that the ignitability has something to do with the time needed for evaporation. I.e., if one can manage to get the petrol into the inlet stroke with a great deal of swirl, consciously giving it more time to evaporate, it would not have a particularly violent combustion.

The only question remaining, is whether a team, who at this point, all having relatively similar information, will notice, that one has to dig deeper and that they're dealing here, with something fundamental, or does it indeed, require, apart from tutors, also coordinators, who can point out this necessity and whether or not this will also be perceived accordingly?

Teamwork will - if properly prepared - nearly always get off to a good start. Indeed, whoever gets the opportunity to see a really successful summary of the results, and this is particularly important as far as production orientated groups are concerned.