Adaptation of international engineering students in project based learning environment: A transformative learning experience

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. H. Maken
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Project Based Learning

scholarly journals Transformative Learning Experience for Incoming Freshmen Engineering Students Through Robotics Research

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baha Jassemnejad ◽  
Wei Pee ◽  
Kevin Rada ◽  
Montell Wright ◽  
Kaitlin Foran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Incoming Freshmen

Enhancing Engineering Learning Experience at UTB by Freshmen iHOP

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazmul Islam
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Real World ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Team Selection ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Lower Division

Most of the engineering courses focus more on theory and very little on hands-on, project-based learning in the classroom. Integration of real-world engineering problems and applications in lower division engineering courses will produce engineering students, who will be technically sound and be able to execute and manage real-world projects, when they will do senior design projects in their final year of engineering study. To overcome the engineering design challenges we have developed iHOP (Ingenieŕia Hands on Project) and integrate it with our lower division engineering courses. iHOP has been developed to emphasis the design component at the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) Engineering Physics curriculum and the project is now an integral part of Introduction to Engineering class. The iHOP project is one that is challenging, fun, requires teamwork, associated with the engineering material being studied, low cost, and doable in a limited amount of time. The experience from iHOP project motivates our freshman students to choose a better senior design project in senior year of their college career. The objectives of the iHOP projects are — to have students develop teamwork skills, and to teach students basic engineering design concepts in a complementary format to the traditional lecture. Various techniques related to team selection, encouraging teamwork, incorporation of engineering topics, keeping costs down, project results presentations, and gathering feedback from students will also be presented in this paper. Integrating iHOP Project with Introduction to Engineering class helped us to improve our retention effort in the engineering department.

scholarly journals FROM CRITICAL THINKING TO REFLECTION TO CITIZEN ENGINEERS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Anne Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Mobile Communications ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Multiple Group ◽  
5G Mobile Communications

What does it mean to be a “responsible engineer”? The question has been asked throughout history, including during times that were fraught with challenge, but the problems awaiting engineering students in Canada in 2021 are arguably unprecedented in their complexity. Technologically difficult problems resulted in recent advances such as the World Wide Web and 5G mobile communications, but today’s challenge derives not only from the global scale of man-made environmental problems and their impacts, but from lack of agreement around appropriate mitigation strategies and on the need to act at all. The engineering students of today must develop solutions to problems that have newly acknowledged and highly contentious human factors. In the Canadian context, new policy is emerging from Canada’s recognition that it must reconcile the harms of past policies towards Indigenous peoples. This recognition has created a discourse around equity that will shape the landscape in which graduates will practice. In preparing young engineers to navigate technological and social complexity, and to equip them to find personal fulfillment in an uncertain landscape, a reinvigorated emphasis on critical and relational thinking is required. In 2019 and 2020, students in a fourth-year class in Sustainability, (which includes a study of law, policy, and sustainability reporting metrics) participated in multiple group exercises that asked them to explore multiple facets of problematic or politically current issues. These learning activities sought to support a transformative learning experience in which students would come to recognize their ability to contribute as citizens to the development of responsible public policy. In these exercises they examined opposing positions and assessed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks, associated with each. That there was no RIGHT conclusion was emphasized. The only criteria for assessment was depth of exploration and logical chaining of evidence. Students learned about cultural perspectives from an Indigenous educator, and as they explored the diversity of viewpoints around the question of pipeline expansion in Canada. A final exercise asked students to reflect on the meanings of responsible policy and practice and how they would operationalize sustainability thinking.

scholarly journals Motivation of Engineering Students Participating in Multinational Design Projects – Comparison Based on Gender and Class Status

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Jorge Rodriguez ◽  
Ivan E. Esparragoza
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Educational Activity ◽  
Time Zone ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Global Skills

There have been different active-learning initiatives introduced in academia to provide engineering students with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude to be competitive in the global market. These initiatives have been in response to the need in the corporate world for engineers with exposure to global collaborative environments. Consequently, multinational collaborative design projects have been used by the authors as means of introducing professional global skills to engineering students while exposing them to a project-based learning experience. This educational activity is expected to motivate students so that they can start developing the professional skills that will help them to overcome difficulties and to carry out the project successfully. However, this activity faces many challenges including, among others, cultural and academic background differences, language and time zone barriers, and issues with communication tools. Therefore, this work compares the motivation of students before and after their participation in a multinational design project, using gender and class standing as differentiating parameters. To accomplish this objective, the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) was adapted to the implemented multinational collaborative experience and administered to the participating students. For this study, three motivation constructs are taken into consideration: (a) interest/enjoyment, (b) perception of choice, and (c) perceived competence. Results are discussed based on the research questions posed for this comparative work, and result reflections are presented.

scholarly journals Physical therapy using robotics: A project-based learning experience for undergraduate students

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 32-42
Author(s):  
Edgar Lopez-Caudana ◽  
Christian Fernando López-Orozco ◽  
César Mendoza Bárbara ◽  
Germán Eduardo Baltazar Reyes ◽  
Pedro Ponce ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Physical Therapy ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Young Patients ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Innovative Therapy ◽  
Wide Range

The dynamic society we live in requires constant adaptation and innovation on every aspect of our daily lives, allowing us to improve the necessities of different people by doing it. For this study, we used a new approach with project-based learning to go beyond the typical environment in higher education and bring solutions to real-life scenarios. The project was developed with undergraduate engineering students in collaboration with a rehabilitation institute in Mexico City to design a physical therapy routine using the NAO robot. It allowed interaction between young patients in real time and fostered empathy while developing a final usable product. The study measured the usability of the robotic platform during the rehabilitation sessions and the reproducibility of the project through Cronbach's alpha evaluation. The usability results show a higher interest in the project from both the patients and the medical staff involved while constructing the material needed to develop a product that matches the standards given by the rehabilitation institute. Implications for practice or policy: Therapists could change traditional approaches to caregiving while adopting new technological methodologies using robots. Higher education students could supplement their school curricula with real-case scenarios such as creating innovative therapy sessions for people with physical disabilities. Schools might need to collaborate with a wide range of institutions to provide technological solutions to real problems.

scholarly journals Engineering Students Learning Experience through a Unique Global Project-Based Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (15) ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
Nurzal Effiyana Ghazali ◽  
Khairiyah Mohd. Yusof ◽  
Fatin Aliah Phang ◽  
Rashidah Arsat ◽  
Nur Azliza Ahmad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Engineering Industry ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Educational Backgrounds ◽  
Institute Of Technology ◽  
Malaysian Students ◽  
Current Engineering ◽  
Global Project

Current students must prepare themselves with the necessary skills for employment in the engineering industry. In addition, students should prepare themselves to work globally. Along with the needs, Shibaura Institute of Technology introduces a program named global Project-Based Learning (gPBL). Malaysian students from different educational backgrounds joined this pro-gram to experience new skills. The program was participated by 34 students from Malaysia and Japan. Current engineering education is focusing on a course that can foster students’ creativity and critical thinking. Therefore, this study explores students’ experiences in gPBL and what student skills developed throughout the program. Students reported their experiences through the self-reflective journal. Then, thematic analysis was used to analyze the students’ self-reflective journals. The results show gPBL promotes thinking and problem-solving skills, encourages students to work with peers in other fields, and encourages students to adapt to a new culture.

scholarly journals Developing Project Managers’ Transversal Competences Using Building Information Modeling

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (19) ◽  
pp. 4006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Zamora-Polo ◽  
Mercedes Martínez Sánchez-Cortés ◽  
Antonio Manuel Reyes-Rodríguez ◽  
Justo García Sanz-Calcedo
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Building Information Modeling ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Building Information ◽  
The University

The emergence of building information modeling (BIM) methodology requires the training of professionals with both specific and transversal skills. In this paper, a project-based learning experience carried out in the context of a project management course at the University of Extremadura is analyzed. To that end, a questionnaire was designed and given to students who participated in the initiative. Results suggest that BIM can be considered a virtual learning environment, from which students value the competences developed. The emotional performance observed was quite flat. Similarly, students valued the usefulness of the initiative. Students expressed a desire for the methodological change of the university classes, and thought that BIM methodology could be useful for other courses. The results obtained show a line of work to be done to improve the training of students and university teaching.

scholarly journals COMM151: A PROJECT-BASED COURSE TO ENHANCE ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ COMMUNICATION SKILLS

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 027
Author(s):  
Tanju Deveci ◽  
Roger Nunn
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Intrapersonal Communication ◽  
The Impact

Engineering is a discipline that requires its practitioners to learn and use a variety of soft-skills, which include academic and non-academic written and spoken communication, inter- and intrapersonal communication skills, critical thinking ability, an ability to work in teams and an ability to analyze, interpret and synthesize interdisciplinary information from a variety of sources. However, students who pursue their engineering education in English as their second language can face formidable challenges acquiring these skills. It is our observation that such students are often only given assistance through English courses designed to improve their individual linguistic abilities. We believe that although this approach may help in the short term, it may not sufficiently cater for students’ overall needs and well-being in the long term. With this in mind, this paper describes our attempt to reduce this problem in our local context of the Petroleum Institute (PI) through a long term innovation effort.A project-based approach has been adopted to provide students with an opportunity to enhance their language skills through meaningful learning experiences that also develop professional, personal and academic skills. This approach has also allowed the university to meet ABET criteria related to communication needs of engineering students. In this paper, we give a detailed rationale for our belief that a holistic approach to developing abilities required by engineering and other students is a better option. This is followed by a description of the different components of our current curriculum that has been developed over 12 years. We describe particular activities, and discuss their merits. We also present students’ perceptions about the impact of their project-based learning experience on their language and skills development. We also outline the way the course is designed to be adaptable for unpredictable future needs in a fast developing professional and academic environment.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document