scholarly journals IMPACT OF LANGUAGE AND STRUCTURE OF INSTRUCTIONS ON STUDENTS’ CONFIDENCE TOWARDS COMPLETING ASSIGNMENTS

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran Hong ◽  
Chirag Variawa
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Level ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
First Year ◽  
Plain Language ◽  
Focus Group Study ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
The Impact

First-year engineering students usually spend more time on courses assignments and projects that they perceived to be more difficult, which increases students’ workload and impacts their persistence in engineering programs. Students possess a higher level of confidence also tend to perform better on the tasks. Therefore, it is important to explore the impact of different aspects of assignment instructions on students’ perceived confidence, and establish a comprehensive set of guidelines for first-year course instructors and curriculum designers in instruction writing. This research builds on existing first-year engineering student workload survey to identify the students’ confidence level on assignments in each first-year courses taught in University of Toronto. We compared assignment instructions in first-year engineering courses that students perceived to be difficult and easy, and conducted a focus group study to analyze students’ confidence level towards the same assignments but two different instructions. Observations suggest that students perceived assignments involving new concepts and complex problem context appear to be more difficult. Qualitative responses from students suggest that short instructions with explanations of course connections using plain language could increase students’ self-confidence towards completing these assignments.  

First-Year Engineering Computing Courses in Canadian Engineering Programs

1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Maw ◽  
Janice Miller Young ◽  
Alexis Morris
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Digital Computation ◽  
Pedagogical Philosophies ◽  
Introductory Computing

Most Canadian engineering students take a computing course in their first year that introduces them to digital computation. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board does not specify the language(s) that can or should be used for instruction. As a result, a variety of languages are used across Canada. This study examines which languages are used in degree-granting institutions, currently and in the recent past. It also examines why institutions have chosen the languages that they currently use. In addition to the language used in instruction, the types and hours of instruction are also analyzed. Methods of instruction and evaluation are compared, as well as the pedagogical philosophies of the different programs with respect to introductory computing. Finally, a comparison of the expected value of this course to graduates is also presented. We found a more diverse landscape for introductory computing courses than anticipated, in most respects. The guiding ethos at most institutions is skill and knowledge development, especially around problem solving in an engineering context. The methods to achieve this are quite varied, and so are the languages employed in such courses. Most programs currently use C/C++, Matlab, VB and/or Python.

scholarly journals Makerspaces in First-Year Engineering Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Pooya Taheri ◽  
Philip Robbins ◽  
Sirine Maalej
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Applied Science ◽  
First Year ◽  
Maker Movement ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
Group Project ◽  
Main Component ◽  
Diploma Program ◽  
The Impact

Langara College, as one of the leading undergraduate institutions in the province of British Columbia (BC), offers the “Applied Science for Engineering” two-year diploma program as well as the “Engineering Transfer” two-semester certificate program. Three project-based courses are offered as part of the two-year diploma program in Applied Science (APSC) and Computer Science (CPSC) departments: “APSC 1010—Engineering and Technology in Society”, “CPSC 1090—Engineering Graphics”, and “CPSC 1490—Applications of Microcontrollers”, with CPSC 1090 and CPSC 1490 also part of the Engineering Transfer curriculum. Although the goals, scopes, objectives, and evaluation criteria of these courses are different, the main component of all three courses is a group-based technical project. Engineering students have access to Langara College’s Makerspace for the hands-on component of their project. Makerspaces expand experiential learning opportunities and allows students to gain a skillset outside the traditional classroom. This paper begins with a detailed review of the maker movement and the impact of makerspace in higher education. Different forms of makerspace and the benefits of incorporating them on first-year students’ creativity, sense of community, self-confidence, and entrepreneurial skills are discussed. This paper introduces Langara’s engineering program and its project-based design courses. Langara’s interdisciplinary makerspace, its goals and objectives, equipment, and some sample projects are introduced in this paper in detail. We then explain how the group-project component of APSC 1010, CPSC 1090, and CPSC 1490 are managed and how using makerspace improves students’ performance in such projects. In conclusion, the paper describes the evaluation of learning outcomes via an anonymous student survey.

An Experimental Study on the Influence That Failure Number, Specialization, and Controls Have on Confidence in Predicting System Failures1

2016 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Somaiah Thimmaiah ◽  
Keith Phelan ◽  
Joshua D. Summers
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
P Value ◽  
First Year ◽  
Psychology Class ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Domain Familiarity ◽  
The Impact

Design reviews are typically used for three types of design activities: (1) identifying errors, (2) assessing the impact of the errors, and (3) suggesting solutions for the errors. This experimental study focuses on understanding the second issue as it relates to the number of errors considered, the existence of controls, and the level of domain familiarity of the assessor. A set of design failures and associated controls developed for a completed industry sponsored project is used as the experimental design problem. Nondomain generalists (students from an undergraduate psychology class), domain generalists (first year engineering students), and domain specialists (graduate mechanical engineering students) are provided a set of failure modes and asked to provide their own opinion or confidence on whether the system would still successfully achieve the stated objectives. The confidence level for all domain populations decreased significantly as the number of design errors increased (largest p-value = 0.0793), and this decrease in confidence is more significant as the number of design errors increases. The impact on confidence is lower when solutions (controls) are provided to prevent the errors (largest p-value = 0.0334) as the confidence decreased faster for domain general engineers as compared to domain specialists (p = < 0.0001). The domain specialists showed higher confidence in making decisions than domain generalists and nondomain generalists as the design errors increase.

EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTEMPORARY PRINCIPLES ON LEARNING AND TEACHING A FUNDAMENTAL FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING COURSE

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. X. Zhang ◽  
C. Yang
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Independent Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Teaching Principles ◽  
Engineering Mechanics ◽  
Teaching Pedagogies

Statics is the most fundamental component of Engineering Mechanics, and it is usually delivered in the first year in a common core course for engineering programs. The delivery of this key unit to the fresh first-year engineering students is very challenging and thus teaching pedagogies, strategies and methods should be further developed in response to the challenges in this important course which critically facilitates the transition of the students from high school to university and establishes their foundation knowledge on Engineering Mechanics. This paper reports the effective implementation of contemporary learning and teaching principles in a first-year core engineering course-Statics. The learning and teaching activities designed in this course include independent learning and collaborative learning, problem and project-based team work and peer learning, and progressive assessments. Effective teaching pedagogies, strategies and methodologies are developed on the basis of these educational principles to engage and motivate the first-year engineering students at most. The proposed methodologies are demonstrated effective in engaging a medium to large size class and the results of formal course surveys demonstrate the efficiency of these methods.

Do Technological Advancements Lead to Learning Enhancements?: An Exploration in Virtual Product Dissection

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Starkey ◽  
Cailyn Spencer ◽  
Kevin Lesniak ◽  
Conrad Tucker ◽  
Scarlett R. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Assessment ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
The Impact

Recent shifts into larger class sizes and online learning have caused engineering educators to rethink the way they integrate inductive, or active learning activities into their courses. One way engineering educators have done this is through the integration of new technological environments. However, little is known about how the type of technological environment utilized in active learning exercises impacts student learning and satisfaction. Thus, as a first step to understanding the impact of technological advancements on student learning and satisfaction, a study was conducted with 18 senior level undergraduate engineering students who were asked to perform product dissection, or the systematic disassembly of a product, using three technological interfaces (computer, iPad, immersive virtual reality). Variations in the complexity of the product dissected were also explored. The results of this study indicate that variations in technological interfaces did not impact student learning as assessed by a Student Learning Assessment (SLA). However, the complexity of the product dissected did impact learning, with students scoring significantly lower on the SLA when dissecting the most complex product. The results also indicated that students perceived learning and satisfaction were highest when using the immersive virtual reality system. These results suggest that the costs of investing in more technological advanced systems for product dissection may not yet outweigh the educational benefits. However, the increase in student satisfaction with VR environments has the potential to positively impact student retention in engineering programs.

Can Design Teams Be Empathically Creative? A Simulation-Based Investigation on the Role of Team Empathy on Concept Generation and Selection

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Alsager Alzayed ◽  
Scarlett R. Miller ◽  
Jessica Menold ◽  
Jacquelyn Huff ◽  
Christopher McComb
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Computational Simulation ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
First Year ◽  
Concept Generation ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Research on empathy has been surging in popularity in the engineering design community since empathy is known to help designers develop a deeper understanding of the users’ needs. Because of this, the design community has been invested in devising and assessing empathic design activities. However, research on empathy has been primarily limited to individuals, meaning we do not know how it impacts team performance, particularly in the concept generation and selection stages of the design process. Specifically, it is unknown how the empathic composition of teams, average (elevation) and standard deviation (diversity) of team members’ empathy, would impact design outcomes in the concept generation and selection stages of the design process. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to investigate the impact of team trait empathy on concept generation and selection in an engineering design student project. This was accomplished through a computational simulation of 13,482 teams of noninteracting brainstorming individuals generated by a statistical bootstrapping technique drawing upon a design repository of 806 ideas generated by first-year engineering students. The main findings from the study indicate that the elevation in team empathy positively impacted simulated teams’ unique idea generation and selection while the diversity in team empathy positively impacted teams’ generation of useful ideas. The results from this study can be used to guide team formation in engineering design.

Engaging Students to Learn Physics and Mathematics through Short High Quality M-Learning Resources

2016 ◽  
pp. 432-452
Author(s):  
Luis Neri ◽  
Julieta Noguez ◽  
Jessica Morales Whitney ◽  
Gerardo Aguilar-Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Resources ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Educational Videos ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Learn Physics ◽  
The Impact

A methodology to design short high quality M-Learning resources aimed to engage students to learn Physics and Mathematics is proposed. Key characteristics to generate motivating mobile resources are identified and applied to produce educational video-capsules. Audiovisual design elements based on cognitive theory of multimedia learning are incorporated. Short videos covering central topics of Mathematics and Physics undergraduate courses that can be displayed on mobile devices are designed. A study case with first-year engineering students using the mobile resources is performed in order to assess student engagement. The results indicate that most students show a positive perception on the educational videos. A parallel study in order to evaluate the impact of the mobile educational videos on student learning is also presented. From this analysis it is suggested to incorporate the use of mobile resources as part of active learning methodologies. Some recommendations for designing mobile resources are presented, and suggestions for implementation of the resources are also provided.

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