The Inspiration Design Toolkit: A Human-Centered Design Tool for a System Engineering Course

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng-Hung Lee ◽  
Maria C. Yang ◽  
Beatriz Carramolino ◽  
John Rudnik

Abstract System Engineering education typically includes content to help students learn to design and engineer large, complex systems in a structured way. In this paper, we describe the outcomes of introducing a human-centered design tool, the Inspiration Design Toolkit (IDT), to encourage students to think non-linearly. The IDT is an educational resource consisting of a deck of illustrated cards that contain provocative questions, reflection messages and icons, applicative examples, and key takeaways on microlearning units. The aim of the IDT is to improve the participants’ learning experience and course engagement, increase opportunities for them to interact with their peers and teaching team, enable them to practice and reinforce the concepts through the creation of their own IDT cards, and share the cards in the discussion to increase learners’ engagement with course material and peers. We designed the IDT for an MIT online course on System Thinking. We collected, analyzed, and synthesized qualitative and quantitative feedback from 171 course participants. Our findings suggest that IDT provides learners with a digital asset that allows them to reinforce and recall the course takeaways, and apply them to other contexts. For future research, we want to understand how learners like and use IDT through demographic differences and preferred self-identified learning styles. We discuss how these findings may help educators consider critical design principles and for creating a digital self-learning toolkit connected to the course content and increasing its content adaptability.

Author(s):  
Michael Holik ◽  
Scott Heinerichs ◽  
Jena Wood

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe student perceptions of their learning following experiential learning (EL) activities in a foodservice management course. Nutrition and dietetics education programs have a range of competencies students must learn and demonstrate throughout their curriculum. Learning styles differ amongst students and research has demonstrated they prefer to engage in EL (direct experience) activities to develop their knowledge. Foodservice management is one area of the curriculum that teaches students the basic functions of management; planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and staffing related to food, materials, facilities, and human resources. While this can be taught didactically, engaging in EL for this content may be a more valuable form of pedagogy to improve student understanding and use of content. Methods: After undergoing review and gaining approval from the Institutional Review Board, 196 nutrition and dietetic students from a regional comprehensive institution with an accredited undergraduate didactic program in dietetics were invited to participate in two experiential learning activities. At the conclusion of the activities, students completed an 8-question survey of their experiences. Results: Over 88% of students agreed EL activities promote better understanding of course content and 90% of students were in agreement that EL activities create an environment conducive to applying theory. Additionally, over 81% of students agreed that the activities encouraged the utilization of critical thinking skills, and 76% believed the activities promoted the value of teamwork and working independently. Finally, students were asked to respond to how the EL activity helped them understand course content and objectives. Two predominate themes emerged in the review of the open-ended responses. The first, EL helped connect and reinforce didactic theory to the real world ultimately assisting students to better prepare themselves for their career. The second focused on learning styles and students’ appreciation for the non-traditional way of learning, outside the classroom, with hands-on application. Conclusions: The results of the study provide support for the use of EL activities in foodservice management courses in a dietetics program. Participation in EL activities helped students close the loop between theoretical and applied learning. EL helped the development and utilization of skills employers are seeking such as critical thinking, teamwork, and independence. EL allows students to be hands-on in their learning and engage in activities aligned with theory and content necessary to meet competencies for entry-level practice in the field. Future research should include other types of foodservice establishments where a registered dietitian nutritionist is employed to determine if those environments have a positive impact on student learning.


Author(s):  
Ioana Rontu ◽  
Mohammed Moshirpour ◽  
Sepideh Afkhami Goli ◽  
Fatemeh Sharifi ◽  
Ehsan Mohammadi

Advancements in information technology has given rise to a new flipped learning environment that is increasingly used at post-secondary institutions. This new pedagogical approach provides a personalized learning experience by accommodating different students’ learning styles. Students interact with the course material prior to attending scheduled face-to-face instruction, where learning is reinforced by working through examples and application problems. This paper provides a practical guiding framework for the collaboration and coordination of multiple instructors in a flipped delivery course style, based upon a literature review, qualitative research, and experience. We used a qualitative approach using a questionnaire to gather lessons learned and suggestions from instructors. The responses were analyzed to extract common themes which were mapped to create a conceptual framework for successful multi-instructor flipped course delivery. Recommendations are made as per three chronological sequences of before, during and after the course offering. The framework aims to support the planning, implementation and evaluation stages of organizing and managing a multi-instructor flipped course. This paper stresses the importance of the teaching team proactively completing the planning and design of course components before the start of the course. Quantitative student feedback received from the fall 2018 course offering in Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary is used to support the flipped classroom delivery, multi-instructor delivery style.


Author(s):  
Amy Gaimaro

Educators delivering online presentations face many challenges when teaching in this modality. Lack of student engagement is one such challenge. Students can study online with lackluster learning experiences when participating in a predominately text-based course. Applying multiple instructional strategies to address students' diverse learning styles can provide students with a more engaged online learning experience. Another challenge many educators face, is the need for support and guidance to facilitate effective online learning. More specifically, educators of the twenty-first century are seeking the know-how to move traditional text-based materials into online, media-rich course content. This chapter will examine some of the challenges of delivering quality online presentations. In conclusion, the author will provide examples of strategies for delivering effective online presentations within the virtual college classroom.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey R. Massengale ◽  
Eleazar Vasquez

Delivering course material in a manner that is accessible to all students including those with disabilities is important in the online environment. This article presents an analysis focusing on the accessibility of six courses presented through the Webcourses platform. Six professors volunteered one course for analysis. The tool use for analyzing the courses was the WAVE tool bar. Analysis of course was completed individually, but results were reported across courses. Overall results indicated 13 types of challenges and of these 5 were the most prevalent across courses. The author discusses a brief history of distance education, the tool used for analysis, challenges that were identified within course and offers suggestion of how to minimize those challenges. Within the methodology, screen shots of the WAVE tool bar are provided. Visual analysis of the frequency of the 13 challenges is provided. Implications of the WAVE tool are shared with future research directions.


Author(s):  
B. Jean Mandernach ◽  
Sarah Nicole Robertson ◽  
John Paul Steele

Research clearly establishes the value of online education to foster students’ cognitive understanding of course material. However, engagement in the learning experience requires more than mere acquisition of new knowledge; to be fully engaged in the learning process, students must also connect with their peers and instructor in a meaningful way. The purpose of this study is to examine the value of instructor-personalized audio lectures as means of fostering students’ engagement with course content and the online learning experience. Qualitative data on the student experience found that instructor-personalized audio lectures enhanced students’ perceptions of value and engagement; quantitative data using a standardized engagement measure revealed no significant differences. Students’ qualitative feedback about their online learning experience indicated that instructor-personalized audio lectures fostered greater student-instructor connections and significantly impacted the likelihood of students’ engaging with course material. Recognizing the value of student engagement for ongoing satisfaction and retention in online learning programs, findings suggest that the creation of personalized audio lectures provides an efficient and effective means for faculty to positively impact students’ online learning experience.  


2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Ginsberg

Abstract This qualitative study examined student perceptions regarding a hybrid classroom format in which part of their learning took place in a traditional classroom and part of their learning occurred in an online platform. Pre-course and post-course anonymous essays suggest that students may be open to learning in this context; however, they have specific concerns as well. Students raised issues regarding faculty communication patterns, learning styles, and the value of clear connections between online and traditional learning experiences. Student concerns and feedback need to be addressed through the course design and by the instructor in order for them to have a positive learning experience in a hybrid format course.


2020 ◽  
pp. 237337992096241
Author(s):  
Jessica Sloan Kruger ◽  
Christopher Hollister

This study examines students’ perceptions of an open pedagogy experiment in which they created their own textbook for an undergraduate public health course. The lead author’s primary motivation for developing this assignment was the high cost associated with the traditional textbooks that were otherwise needed to cover the breadth of subject matter in the course. The resulting open textbook included 19 chapters, covering all the required components of the course, and the final version was published in a statewide open educational resource repository. Students provided feedback about this undertaking by way of an end-of-term survey. The results showed high percentages of students who associated the textbook creation project with greater engagement and satisfaction than the passive use of traditional textbooks. Students also reported their perception of a learning benefit related to the creation of course content. Pedagogical implications of this study are discussed, and future research questions are proposed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 101-128
Author(s):  
Mair E. Lloyd ◽  
James Robson

Abstract Between 2000 and 2013, over 8,000 students studied the module Reading Classical Latin at the Open University, the United Kingdom’s largest distance education provider. But while many learners attained high grades, a significant proportion withdrew from study or failed the module. In 2015, the original module was replaced with a completely new course, Classical Latin: The Language of Ancient Rome. This article details the innovative ways in which new technology and pedagogical theory from Modern Foreign Language (MFL) learning were drawn on by the team designing this new module, resulting in a learning experience which gives greater emphasis to elements such as spoken Latin, the intrinsic pleasure of reading, and cultural context. The (largely positive) effects of these pedagogical changes on student success and satisfaction are subsequently analysed using a rich mix of qualitative and quantitative data. Finally, the authors reflect on lessons learned and the possibilities for future research and enhancement.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-83
Author(s):  
Emily E. Russell

Abstract In two studies, we tested the relationship between children’s label-learning experience and label-learning ability within diverse superordinate categories with complex perceptual organization (animals, clothing, foods). Using both quasi-experimental and experimental designs, we examined 18- and 24-month-old children’s ability to generalize labels for novel members of superordinate categories as a product of their previous experience in learning labels for members of those categories. As predicted, children properly generalized more labels for members of the categories within which they had more label-learning experience than for members of the categories within which they had less label-learning experience. Results are consistent with the idea that children develop category-specific label-learning biases through their experience in learning labels for category members; they carry implications for multiple accounts of vocabulary acquisition and identify directions for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Nur Zihan Abd Rashid ◽  
Tuan Nur Athirah Nabilah Tuan Ismail ◽  
Bibianah Thomas

Service quality is a very crucial element in ensuring the competitiveness of various institutions. By having a good service quality, the reputation of the organization will enhance and thus become their added competitive advantage. In higher education institution, service quality is important to ensure the students whom are their primary stakeholders are able to have a good learning experience in which will then influence their satisfaction. The primary objective of this paper is to analyze the correlation between five elements in SERVQUAL dimensions (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy) and the student satisfaction. The questionnaires were distributed among the students in various faculties in UiTM Sabah by using convenience sampling technique and 250 questionnaires were managed to be collected for analysis. Overall, the result shows that the students are satisfied with service quality in UiTM Sabah. Specifically, all five SERVQUAL dimensions correlate with student satisfaction. Reliability, responsiveness and empathy dimensions have strong correlation with student satisfaction. Meanwhile, both tangibility and assurance have moderate correlation with student satisfaction. This study is hoped to contribute towards the new knowledge in the field of service quality especially in higher education institutions Future research is also proposed at the final section of this study to discover new findings from different perspectives of service quality. Keywords: servqual; students’ satisfaction; service quality; higher education institution; service delivery.


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