scholarly journals HOW DO ENGINEERING STUDENTS REACT TO MEMORIZATION VS. PROBLEM ANALYSIS QUESTIONS ON EXAMS?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah DeDecker ◽  
Ryan Clemmer ◽  
Karen Gordon ◽  
Julie Vale
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Skill Development ◽  
Engineering Problem ◽  
Problem Analysis ◽  
High Grade ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Study Approach

In engineering, problem analysis skill development is an important aspect of student learning. This skill development may be hindered by the use of surface learning approaches to obtain adequate performance on assessments. In this study, two focus groups were used to investigate reactions to memorization and problem analysis questions on engineering exams based on the nature of the course. Students are primarily motivated by grades and adopt a study approach that will allow them to achieve a high grade on a midterm exam based on the context of the course and contributing factors. When students are presented with memorization questions on an exam, they are more concerned with remembering the answer instead of using their knowledge base to solve the problem. When students perceive an exam will assess their problem analysis skills, they identified questions they have already seen before to be an unfair way to assess those skills. These results suggest that students employ different study approaches depending on the nature of the course and associated assessments. Therefore, exams should be designed with intent based on whether the instructor wants to assess their knowledge base or problem analysis skills.

scholarly journals Programme Outcome Attributes related to Complex Engineering Problem Capability: Perceptions of Engineering Students in Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Che Maznah Mat Isa ◽  
Nik ‘Irfan Aiman Mohammad ◽  
Nor Hayati Saad ◽  
Preece Christopher Nigel
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Engineering Problem ◽  
Cognitive Domain ◽  
Problem Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Outcome Based Education ◽  
Importance Index ◽  
Complex Engineering ◽  
Level Of Understanding ◽  
Programme Outcomes

Abstract: Programme outcomes (POs) are the attributes that reflect the student skills expected to be acquired upon graduation. The Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) under Board of Engineers Malaysia requires 12 POs with complex engineering problems (CEP) and knowledge profiles to be incorporated in engineering programmes. Despite considerable research on outcome-based education (OBE), the OBE implementation with regards to the PO attributes and domains incorporating CEP characteristics are still questionable and vaguely implemented by the programmes. This paper presents two PO attributes related to problem solving and development/design for solution based on the perceptions of 301 engineering students in Malaysia. This paper aims to determine the student’s level of understanding on the PO learning domain and to analyze significant factors contributing to their PO attainment. A quantitative method using a questionnaire survey was adopted targeting a random probability sampling of respondents. Descriptive (percentage frequency, relative importance index) and statistical analyses (reliability, normality, correlation) were used to analyze the data. The findings show that the students perceived both POs as cognitive domains and they believed that lecturer’s roles in facilitating students on the subject matter has contributed significantly to their PO attainment. This study is limited to an engineering programme from one institution of higher learning (IHL) in Malaysia. However, the findings provide important insights on the students’ level of understanding of PO attributes and the OBE practices on CEP in the programme. This study can be extended to other IHLs to gauge the students’ understanding related to other PO attributes stipulated by the EAC.   Keywords: Programme Outcomes, Cognitive Domain, Problem Analysis, Design of The Solution, Engineering

scholarly journals Sixteen Months “From Square One”: The Process of Forming an Interprofessional Clinical Teaching Team

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen M. McKinlay ◽  
Peter A Gallagher ◽  
Lesley A Gray ◽  
Christine L Wilson ◽  
Susan R Pullon
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Interprofessional Education ◽  
Clinical Teaching ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Team Formation ◽  
Teacher Interviews ◽  
Educational Preparation ◽  
Trust Development ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Teaching Team

Background: Descriptions of interprofessional education (IPE) programs and teacher competencies exist, but limited research has been undertaken about the process of IPE teaching team formation. This research project examined how pedagogically naïve clinicians of different disciplines initially formed an IPE teaching team.Methods and Findings: A case study approach was undertaken with data collected over the first sixteen months of an IPE program. Data included: audio recordings, transcripts, and field notes from nine individual teacher interviews, two teaching team focus groups, five student focus groups, and eight summary reports. Data analysis using a grounded theory constant comparison approach revealed themes relating to the formation, development, and evolving sophistication of the teaching team from functioning, to co-ordinating, to co-operating, and finally to collaborating. These stages were influenced by four external factors: remote rural context, Hauora Māori principles, personal attributes, and teacher development.Conclusions: Formation of interprofessional clinical teaching teams requires educational preparation, time learning to work with each other, and trust development, with a number of local contextual factors influencing this process. Teaching team formation paralleled Wegner’s Community of Practice model where shared vision supported the adoption of an increasingly complex IPE pedagogy.

Tutor Experiences with Facilitating Interprofessional Problem-Based Learning

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Margaret Jewell ◽  
Marcel D'Eon ◽  
Nora McKee ◽  
Peggy Proctor ◽  
Krista Trinder
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Skill Development ◽  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Professional Roles ◽  
Tutor Training ◽  
Retention Strategies ◽  
Topic Area ◽  
Recruitment And Retention ◽  
Paper And Pencil ◽  
Training And Support

Background: This article describes tutors’ experiences with facilitating interprofessional problem-based learning (iPBL), a topic rarely discussed in the literature. We examined tutors’ perceptions of what it was like to tutor iPBL, including the rewarding and challenging aspects. We also reported differences between new and experienced tutors.Methods and Findings: The data presented in this article were collected using three versions of a paper-and-pencil survey (N = 77, N = 99, and N = 97 for each version of the survey, respectively) and six focus groups. Surveys were completed at the conclusion of iPBL modules. Both quantitative and qualitative results indicated that tutors found the experience of facilitating iPBL to be rewarding and encountered few challenges. Tutors felt the training they received prepared them well to tutor. They also felt that facilitating iPBL increased their knowledge in the topic area of the iPBL module and of other professional roles, that it enhanced their skills as facilitators, and that they enjoyed observing students learn. New tutors reported significantly more learning and skill development than experienced tutors.Conclusions: Four lessons were derived from our research: 1) use iPBL to offer IPE; 2) invest in tutor training and support; 3) help tutors trust the process; and 4) consider tutor recruitment and retention strategies.

Developing Engineering Students' Communication and Information Retrieval Skills Utilizing Capstone Projects

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron S. Blicblau ◽  
Jamal Naser
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
International Students ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
The World ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Capstone Projects ◽  
Key Aspects

The pedagogy of engineering requires a better understanding of the requirements of students' abilities to learning the skills necessary for working in the engineering community. In many engineering courses around the world, one of the key aspects required of the students is that they complete an independent project in their final year of studies incorporating information retrieval and subsequent communication skills. The current work provides details teaching and learning approaches to enhance student abilities and expertise involving research skills, communication skills, and information retrieval integrated within capstone projects. Findings from this the work indicated that both domestic and international students benefited from the intensive tutorial activities involving computer based information retrieval skills. The implementation of active tutorial sessions resulted in increased grades for the majority of students, highlighting the importance of intensive active learning events for final year capstone engineering students.

scholarly journals What can engineers learn from the past? A potential role for history in engineering education.

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Gaynor ◽  
Greg Crebbin
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Energy Transport ◽  
Engineering Problem ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
The Past ◽  
Technical Solutions ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable

At present, in many societies, engineers play a significant role in solving problems of energy, transport, accommodation and production; but similar problems have been solved through technical and non-technical means for thousands of years. Numerous historical examples therefore exist, in which the ends of different approaches to problem-solving are apparent: some tending to produce socially and/or ecologically sustainable outcomes, and some less positive. Historians do not simply narrate the past, they explain and interpret changes and continuities by paying attention to larger issues of, for example, class, gender, polity and economy. Such historical narratives, we argue, may have a useful role to play in efforts to shift the perspective of engineering students away from a narrow focus on complex technical solutions, towards the broader context in which their problem-solving will take place. This ability to assess the relationships between engineering problem-solving and the broader social and environmental context is critical to the development of a more sustainable and socially-just engineering practice.

scholarly journals Cultivating High School Leaders through Engineering and Science

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Mieske ◽  
Martin Scherer ◽  
Mary Wells
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Engineering Problem ◽  
Problem Analysis ◽  
Leadership Program ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Undergraduate Studies ◽  
Effective Group

Engineering and leadership go hand in hand for many within the engineering profession and throughout undergraduate studies. Students are challenged to work in teams, self-assign tasks, manage team members, set deadlines and see projects to completion. The Waterloo engineering Catalyst High School Summer Leadership Program (Catalyst) aligns specifically with the engineering knowledge base, problem analysis, investigation, design, lifelong learning and communication outcomes outlined by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB). Catalyst was developed to link engineering problem solving and design with leadership skills.Catalyst students are engaged to develop both soft and hard skills in an effort to display the multitude of connections, benefits and opportunities available to students entering their undergraduate studies. More and more entrepreneurship, design and effective group leadership are all becoming essential traits and skills for students entering the workforce as well for those taking the leap to dream, market, build and succeed with their own ideas or products.Over the past three years, the summer leadership program has grown through trial, feedback and collaborative brainstorming to offer a four-week program that focuses on leadership skills, design, research exposure and entrepreneurship. Through hands-on design thinking and problem solving projects, entrepreneurial group study and by offering leadership experience in a controlled setting a new type of high school student emerges. One who is prepared, excited and inspired to get involved, try, fail and challenge themselves and their peers to create change and solve problems facing their generation.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document