scholarly journals Developing Student Meta-Cognition in a Design Course.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan L. Steele
Keyword(s):  
Group Work ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Project Work ◽  
Group Project ◽  
Design Work ◽  
Main Route ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Life Long Learning ◽  
Capstone Project ◽  
Planning Group

practice can help with developing professional skills. To encourage the development of self reflection and ultimately meta-cognition related to project and design work, undergraduate electrical engineering students in anon-capstone project course undertook reflection exercises on their group project. The instructor observed a range of abilities to undertake the reflections, with some not going beyond describing the work that they had done, whereas others started to show a deeper consideration and thinking about their project work. The main route for reflection was a reflection journal, where five entries were required over the period of the project. The choice of reflection topic was up to the student except in one entry case when a mandatory question on life long learning was asked. For each of the other reflections a suggestion was provided for a reflection topic. Other opportunities for reflection were included with questionnaires at the beginning and end of the course, as well as presentations including one describing one thing the group had learned.The individual experiences of students in a first major group project course allow a range of reflections to occur, from ideas about planning, group work, problem solving and design being potential areas for discussion. Evaluation here is restricted to the instructors observations and not a detailed analysis of the student’s reflection work. This is an early examination of reflection and meta-cognition of the students but there areindications that students are taking the first steps in considering their approaches to project and design work.

scholarly journals THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE-LONG LEARNING COMPETENCIES: POSITIONING STUDENTS FOR SELF-REGULATION

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Aleong ◽  
David S. Strong
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Reflective Process ◽  
Life Long Learning ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Learning Competencies ◽  
Insight Into

Within the engineering attribute of life-long learning is the ability for self-regulation, described as the process in which students plan, monitor, control, and adjust their behaviour to meet specific goals. To be self-regulating requires a degree of self-awareness and self-reflection to build knowledge about the self. This self-knowledge contributes to one’s values, personal identity, and motivational beliefs that may direct academic behaviour. In this paper, we present insight into the implementation of a workshop program designed to engage undergraduate engineering students in a facilitated self-reflective process. The workshop program challenged participants to think about how they see themselves in their engineering education and how they envision the person they wish to become in their future career. The research aims to offer educators with pedagogical insight into students’ sense of self, self-regulating processes, and new ways to promote the skills of life-long learning.

scholarly journals A Preliminary Study of the Design Approaches to Project Work Taken by Undergraduate Engineering Students

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy J. Laliberté ◽  
C. Schramm ◽  
A. L. Steele
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Project Work ◽  
Design Work ◽  
Design Processes ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Design Cycle ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Capstone Projects

We report on a preliminary study of discrete design processes and their timing, when undergraduate engineering students undertake project work. The method of the study followed the approach undertaken by others1,2 where the project design cycle is broken into discrete stages, for example problem definition, modeling, feasibility analysis and communication. In these previous studies the design was over approximately 3 hours1 using a single session design problem and required talking aloud by the designer, so that an observer could assess the stages being undertaken at given time intervals. Our study is over one or two terms and uses self-reporting by students to the criteria. Weekly emails prompted students with individualized links to a webform to report the type of design work done in the previous week. Because a week is a relatively long interval, the web form asks the students to report in terms of their primary (most effort and time) and secondary tasks. Similar to previous studies, this study compares the time spent and the points in the design cycle when certain process are undertaken or revisited. Our results, however, describe the design process over various durations (one term projects or full-year capstone projects), for different years of study (primarily, third and fourth year), different fields of engineering (from Aerospace, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical as well as Systems) and finally for different sized teams (from pairs of students in course projects to teams of twenty in Mechanical and Aerospace capstone projects). Comparisons will also be made between the design processes of different students, based on their final grade for their project. This first year of study is seen as a preliminary year to a longer and broader study, and the paper present our preliminary results as well as lessons learned in the areas of self-reporting and sizeable, longer-term data collection.

scholarly journals Approaching Sustainable Energy Transitions Through Bringing Disciplines Together: an examination of Carleton University’s graduate cross disciplinary course in sustainable energy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalin Moy
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Group Work ◽  
Sustainable Energy ◽  
Project Work ◽  
Master's Program ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Group Project ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
Core Course ◽  
Energy Engineering

Complex challenges in sustainable energyrequire innovation: new ways of approaching problemsand new ways of collaborating. Bridging disciplinesthrough teamwork is one way to address issues effectively. Drawing from the experiences of a graduate level crossdisciplinary course involving engineering and public policy at Carleton University, this paper seeks to provide insights on the practical side of bridging disciplines in the classroom. Offered since 2011, this is a core course of Carleton’s Master’s program in Sustainable Energy Engineering and Policy. Working in groups, students envision and develop plans for novel sustainable energy projects. Through our experiences we posit the following  three suggestions for successful interdisciplinary teamwork. First, ensuring that students embarking on a course share a similar foundation. Second, lessons from literature regarding team dynamics can be applied to group project work. Thirdly, that group work, challenging at times, may later be found valuable in life beyond the classroom

scholarly journals Design Framework Based on TEC21 Educational Model and Education 4.0 Implemented in a Capstone Project: A Case Study of an Electric Vehicle Suspension System

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5768
Author(s):  
Hugo A López ◽  
Pedro Ponce ◽  
Arturo Molina ◽  
María Soledad Ramírez-Montoya ◽  
Edgar Lopez-Caudana
Keyword(s):  
Electric Vehicle ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Traditional Education ◽  
Educational Model ◽  
Capstone Project ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Vehicle Suspension System ◽  
Competencies Development

Nowadays, engineering students have to improve specific competencies to tackle the challenges of 21st-century-industry, referred to as Industry 4.0. Hence, this article describes the integration and implementation of Education 4.0 strategies with the new educational model of our university to respond to the needs of Industry 4.0 and society. The TEC21 Educational Model implemented at Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico aims to develop disciplinary and transversal competencies for creative and strategic problem-solving of present and future challenges. Education 4.0, as opposed to traditional education, seeks to provide solutions to these challenges through innovative pedagogies supported by emerging technologies. This article presents a case study of a Capstone project developed with undergraduate engineering students. The proposed structure integrates the TEC21 model and Education 4.0 through new strategies and laboratories, all linked to industry. The results of a multidisciplinary project focused on an electric vehicle racing team are presented, composed of Education 4.0 elements and competencies development in leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The project was a collaboration between academia and the productive sector. The results verified the students’ success in acquiring the necessary competencies and skills to become technological leaders in today’s modern industry. One of the main contributions shown is a suitable education framework for bringing together the characteristics established by Education 4.0 and achieved by our educational experience based on Education 4.0.

scholarly journals ENGINEERING STUDENT ATTAINMENT AND ENGAGEMENT THROUGHOUT THE DESIGN PROCESS

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1373-1382
Author(s):  
Avril Thomson ◽  
Hilary Grierson
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Project Work ◽  
Design Engineering ◽  
Engineering Student ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Design Students ◽  
Major Project

AbstractThe paper reports on a study that aims to gain an understanding of how senior engineering design students engage and attain throughout the various stages of the design process during a major design project. Following a literature review it sets out to answer 3 main research questionsQ1. Do students engage more with certain stages of the design process during major project work?;Q2. Do students attain better during certain phases of the design process during major project ?Q3. Is there a difference in this attainment between year groups of the same degree programme ?The methodology adopted employs an analysis of marks and an online questionnaire to collect data. Patterns and trends in how senior BEng and MEng Product Design Engineering students engage and attain within the design process are presented, identified and discussed and in turn used to inform reflection on the research questions set.

scholarly journals Engineering Education through a Flipped Classroom Model

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wang ◽  
Adam Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Core Curriculum ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Capstone Project ◽  
Variable Control ◽  
Flipped Classrooms ◽  
Comparison Of The Results ◽  
And Control

Abstract – A flipped classroom model is used to teach a 4th year multi-variable control systems course. This course is a technical elective and is not in the core curriculum. The capstone project is to model and control a nonlinear robot in simulation. The students are interdisciplinary Engineering students (Mechanical, Mechatronics, Computer and Electrical). Building upon accepted best practices for flipped classrooms, several additional enhancements are applied and evaluated. The results of student surveys as well as a comparison of the results of student performance in the capstone project between traditional and flipped lecturing techniques are presented. It is believed that the enhancements that were implemented can aid in future flipped classroom initiatives.  

scholarly journals Students’ attention in class: patterns, perceptions of cause and a tool for measuring classroom quality of life

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-71
Author(s):  
Neil Grainger Allison
Keyword(s):  
Group Work ◽  
Classroom Quality ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Individual Interaction ◽  
Medium Education ◽  
Exercise Breaks ◽  
Interaction Types ◽  
Full Class ◽  
Changes Over Time

Constructs such as engagement and FLOW have been well-developed and studied in education contexts. Sustained attention, a distinct but related concept, has been less studied, particularly in the language classroom and foreign language medium education. In a case study involving mixed methods, predominantly structured qualitative data, student attention was measured repeatedly during a university pre-sessional EAP course. The aim was to compare with previous research on the relationship between attention and time/stages of lessons and reveal any additional attention patterns based on interaction types (group work, individual work, full class). In addition, repeated surveys were used to reveal what students perceived as damaging to attention and also the perceived value of exercise breaks. Results suggested significance in attention changes over time and between teacher talking time, group work and individual interaction types. The study design itself forms a simple and effective tool to improve classroom life including teachers’ monitoring of class dynamics and for students, a means of self-reflection to increase learning performance. 

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