Using Team-Based Learning to Improve Learning and the Student Experience in a Mechanical Design Course

Author(s):  
Peter M. Ostafichuk ◽  
H. F. Machiel Van der Loos ◽  
James Sibley

In 2008, a design course on mechanical components (MECH 325) at the University of British Columbia was converted from a conventional lecture-based format to a team-based learning (TBL) format. The MECH 325 course is content-rich and covers the characteristics, uses, selection, and sizing of common mechanical components (including gears, flexible drives, bearings, and so on). With the shift in course format to TBL, student performance on exams as well as responses to teaching evaluations and course surveys all indicate an improvement in the students’ perception of the course and student learning. Specifically, performance on multiple choice exam questions from different years (remaining similar in both style and difficulty) increased by 17%. Likewise, on official University teaching evaluations over a five-year period, students rated the TBL version of the course as having a reduced workload, seeming less advanced, seeming more relevant, and being more interesting. On informal course surveys, 76% of students on average indicated they felt the various elements of TBL were effective towards the course aims. Finally, from instructor observations, the shift to TBL has resulted in increased student engagement and collaboration, and an increased emphasis on higher-level learning, such as application, synthesis, and judgment.

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 298-321
Author(s):  
J Paul Grayson

Teaching evaluations have become part of life on Canadian campuses; however, there is no agreement among researchers as to their validity. In this article, comparisons were made between first- and third-year collective evaluations of professors’ performance at the University of British Columbia, York University, and McGill University. Overall, it was found that students who provided low evaluations in their first year were also likely to do so in their third year. This effect held independent of degree of campus engagement, sex, student status (domestic or international), and generational status (students who were the first in their families to attend university, compared to those who were not). Given that over the course of their studies, students likely would have been exposed to a range of different behaviours on the part of their professors, it is argued that the propensity of a large number of students to give consistently low evaluations was a form of “habitual behaviour.”  


2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuf Altintas ◽  
Elizabeth A. Croft

The Electro-Mechanical Design Engineering programme has been in place as a five-year combined interdisciplinary programme in mechanical and electronics engineering at the University of British Columbia since 1994. The students take almost all mechanical and most of the core electronics engineering courses during the first four years. They spend at least two four-month-long summer terms in industry as cooperative education students, where they receive training in practical design, drafting, manufacturing and instrumentation. The fifth year is dedicated to the complete design and manufacturing of a computer controlled machine in industry. Teams of students design the complete mechanical system with actuators, sensors and computer control units under the joint supervision of a faculty member and a qualified engineer designated by the sponsoring company. Upon the completion and testing of the full electro-mechanical machine and four graduate courses, the students receive a Bachelor and Master of Engineering in Electro-Mechanical Engineering. The Electro-Mechanical students receive academic and industrial training in mechanical, electronics and software engineering, and are in high demand in industry and academia upon graduation. The present status and future of this programme, including the proposed expansion of the programme to the M.A.Sc. Degree (currently under faculty review), is discussed.


Author(s):  
H.F. Machiel Van der Loos ◽  
Antony Hodgson ◽  
Jon Mikkelsen ◽  
Markus Fengler

To provide for professional growth of students and to gain deeper insight into student engagement in the University of British Columbia MECH Capstone Design Project Course, the teaching team has deployed an open-ended reflection opportunity over the past 6 years as an adjunct to the required teaching evaluations. Three years of year-end questionnaires and three years of bi-monthly instructor-led reflection sessions form the datasets. Although the two formats are fundamentally different, the quality of the responses provides evidence of high student awareness of their own learning process and a desire to be a meaningful contributor in the conversation on course improvement.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (13) ◽  
pp. 122-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Chase ◽  
Lucinda Soares Gonzales

This article will describe the approach to dysphagia education in a classroom setting at the University of Connecticut (UCONN), explore the disparity between student performance in schools vs. health care settings that was discovered at UCONN, and offer suggestions for practicum supervisors in medical settings to enhance student acquisition of competence.


Author(s):  
Karina Amaiakovna Oganesian

The article discusses the issue of intellectualizing the process of learning a language through the prism of studying literary text, describes the multiplicity of approaches and directions in studying an artistic text in order to reveal its nature in the linguistic aspect, increase the motivational level and update the educational process.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Concepción Elizabeth Marcillo García

El momento que viven las universidades ecuatorianas, se caracteriza por la búsqueda de una mejora significativa en el campo académico, investigativo y de vinculación con la comunidad. La intervención de algunas universidades por parte del CES, ha sido una medida que se constituye en oportunidad para lograr cubrir las expectativas de la sociedad y de las instancias superiores encargadas de velar por el desarrollo de la Academia. Las deficiencias encontradas develaron las causas principales que aquejan a estas comunidades: el pobre desarrollo de la investigación. En este marco, el presente trabajo se constituye en un tema pertinente, al proyectar una propuesta que se sustenta en la necesidad de formación de la docencia universitaria en el ámbito de la investigación. El análisis que se realiza a la propuesta, tiene un enfoque social pensado en función del servicio que presta la Universidad a la colectividad en aras de responder a la sociedad que concomitante al progreso mundial, apuntala su economía en el desarrollo del conocimiento. Considerar una estrategia para el desarrollo de las competencias investigativas en los docentes universitarios, ayudará a fortalecer la función investigativa, consecuentemente, se generará y crearán condiciones que permitan transferir tecnologías tendientes a mejorar las condiciones de vida del sector.  Palabras claves: Docencia universitaria, competencia investigativa, investigación, universidad, estrategia  Social view of the strategy for the formation of the research competence in the university professor    Abstract  The Ecuadorian universities are changing today and that is characterized by the search for a significant improvement in the academic and research fields and the link with the community. The intervention of some universities by the CES has been a measure which constitutes an opportunity to meet the society’s expectations and those of the higher level authorities to ensure the development of the university. The deficiencies found uncovered the main causes affecting these communities: the poor development of research. In this context, the present work constitutes a relevant topic, to project a proposal that is based on the need for training in the field of researching the university teachers. The analysis of the proposal has a social approach, which functions through the service provided by the University to the community in order to respond to the global society concomitant progress that seeks the development of knowledge while developing the world economy. To consider a strategy for the researching competence development in university teachers will help strengthening the researching function. Consequently, it will generate and create conditions for transferring technologies aimed at improving the living conditions of the teachers.  Keywords: University teaching, research competence, research, university, strategy


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 199-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moono Silitongo ◽  
◽  
Dailesi Ndlovu ◽  
Kasonde Bowa ◽  
Krikor Erzingatsian ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Marialuz Arántzazu García-González ◽  
Fermín Torrano ◽  
Guillermo García-González

The aim of this paper is to analyze the primary stress factors female professors at online universities are exposed to. The technique used for the prospective and exploratory analysis was the Delphi method. Two rounds of consultations were done with fourteen judges with broad experience in health and safety at work and university teaching who reached a consensus of opinion regarding a list of nine psychosocial risk factors. Among the most important risk factors, mental overload, time pressure, the lack of a schedule, and emotional exhaustion were highlighted. These risk factors are related to the usage and expansion of information and communication technology (ICT) and to the university system itself, which requires initiating more research in the future in order to develop the intervention programs needed to fortify the health of the affected teachers and protect them from stress and other psychosocial risks.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document