scholarly journals Exploring Formative Assessment Possibilities: Building a 'Teamwork Discourse' with First-Year Engineering Students Online

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Senna Fouché ◽  
Erika Müller
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Professional Orientation ◽  
Engineering Degree ◽  
Residential University

Effective teamwork is one of the Engineering Council of South Africa’s (ECSA) exit-level outcomes. To achieve this outcome, one has to learn specific discourses and behaviours related to teamwork. Professional Orientation is a first-year engineering module offered in an extended engineering degree programme at a residential university in South Africa. This module assists students in developing a ‘teamwork discourse’, using engineering-based projects that follow the CDIO framework. In 2020, these projects transitioned fully to a virtual environment due to Covid-19 restrictions. The iPeer Learning Management System tool for peer- and self-assessment was used in this research to investigate whether first-year students were able to apply the teamwork discourses taught to them when completing the projects online. A quantitative analysis of the iPeer results reflected that while 54% of the students remained consistent in the two projects, 16% showed an improvement, and 30% showed a decrease. The reasons for these results could be varied. Thus, a qualitative analysis of the students’ comments for increased and decreased marks was also conducted to assess how the relevant teamwork discourses were applied and to what extent. These findings confirmed that teamwork discourses could effectively be applied by a smaller percentage of first-year students.

scholarly journals Correlation between students’ workload and attendance as related towards final grades: A case of study on Statistics for first-year Engineering students.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos De la Calle-Arroyo ◽  
Licesio Rodríguez-Aragón
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
High Ratio ◽  
First Year ◽  
Monitoring Strategy ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Student Workload ◽  
Engineering Degree ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Final Grades ◽  
The Relationship

In this work, a monitoring experience of student workload and attendance is presented. During four academic years, from 2015 until 2019, first-year students of an Engineering degree have been asked, three times a week, to estimate their autonomous workload devoted to the Statistics subject. The monitoring strategy has been anonymous, open and voluntary and has shown a high ratio of participation: 407 students out of 433. To generate the final dataset this information has been combined with attending records to classroom-based lectures and final grades achieved. Results indicate that declared student’s workload hardly reaches the 90 hours of autonomous work established in the ECTS ratio of our university. Nonparametric comparisons show strong statistical evidences of the relationship between final grades in the subject and declared workload and attendance. We find that attendance is crucial in order to achieve a homogeneous workload along the semester and a success in the subject’s grading.

REVERSE ENGINEERING: TENSION RATCHET DISSECTION PROJECT

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremiah Vanderlaan ◽  
Josh Richert ◽  
James Morrison ◽  
Thomas Doyle
Keyword(s):  
Reverse Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
First Year ◽  
Stepping Stones ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Final Project ◽  
Undergraduate Study ◽  
Solid Edge ◽  
Part Modeling

We are a group of engineering students, in our first year of undergraduate study. We have been selected from one thousand first year students and have competed and won the PACE competition. All engineers share a common general first year, but we have been accepted into Civil and Mechanical engineering. This project was assigned as the final project in the Design and Graphics course. The project we are tasked with, called the Cornerstone Design Project, is to first dissect a product, discover how it works, dimension each part and create a fully assembled model using CAD software (Solid Edge V20 in our case). As part of discovering how it works we must benchmark it so the device can be compared with competing products. The goal of the project is to develop a full understanding of part modeling and assembly in Solid Edge, learn proper measurement techniques, and learn the process of reverse engineering and product dissection. All of these tasks were stepping stones to help us fully understand how the device, and all its components, work.

scholarly journals What Can Students’ Bibliographies Tell Us?- Evidence Based Information Skills Teaching for Engineering Students

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Yu ◽  
Jan Sullivan ◽  
Leith Woodall
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
First Year ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Internet Resources ◽  
Information Skills ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Department Faculty

Objective - This project sought to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in locating, retrieving, and citing information in order to deliver information skills workshops more effectively. Methods - Bibliographies submitted from first-year engineering and second- and fourth-year chemical engineering students’ project reports were analysed for the number of items cited, the variety of items cited, and the correct use of citation style. The topics of the project reports were also reviewed to see the relationships between the topics and the items cited. Results - The results show that upper level students cited more items in total than did lower level students in their bibliographies. Second- and fourth-year engineering students cited more books and journal articles than first-year students cited. Web sites were used extensively by all three groups of students, and for some first-year students these were the most frequently used sources. Students from all three groups had difficulties with citation style. Conclusion - There was a clear difference in citation frequency between upper and lower level engineering students. Different strategies of information skills instruction are needed for different levels of students. Librarians and department faculty members need to include good quality Internet resources in their teaching and to change the emphasis from finding information to finding, interpreting, and citing accurately.

Education for sustainable development in Spanish higher education: an assessment of sustainability competencies in engineering and education degrees

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fermín Sánchez-Carracedo ◽  
Daniel Romero-Portillo ◽  
Bàrbara Sureda Carbonell ◽  
Francisco Manuel Moreno-Pino
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Education Students ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spanish Higher Education ◽  
Percentage Measure ◽  
University Degree

Purpose This paper aims to present a methodology for analysing the extent to which students of a university degree perceive that they have received a good education for sustainable development (ESD). The methodology enables us to quantify this perception, which, in turn, allows us to determine: to what extent the objectives related to ESD are achieved in the degree, and to compare the learning in ESD perceived by students of different degrees. The methodology is applied to nine engineering degrees and nine education degrees in the Spanish university system. Design/methodology/approach ESD is analysed from the students’ learning perception. This perception is measured by comparing the responses of first- and fourth-year students to a questionnaire about their sustainability competencies. Two indicators have been designed to analyse the results. The first indicator, learning increase, measures the declared learning difference between fourth- and first-year students. The second indicator, learning percentage, measure the amount of learning as reported by fourth-year students compared to how much they could have learned. Findings The results show that the average learning percentage perceived by students is higher in engineering degrees (33%) than in education degrees (27%), despite the fact that the average learning increase declared by students at the end of their studies in both areas of knowledge is similar (66%). Engineering students report having achieved higher learning than education students in all sustainability competencies, with the exception of ethics. Originality/value This paper analyses ESD from the student’s perspective. Furthermore, to the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that compares the perception of ESD between engineering and education students. This comparison allows us to determine the different approaches that university Professors take to ESD according to the discipline they teach.

CAD Platform Independent Software for Automatic Grading of Technical Drawings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanchit Ingale ◽  
Anirudh Srinivasan ◽  
Diana Bairaktarova
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Spatial Visualization ◽  
First Year ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Pedagogical Tool ◽  
Students Success ◽  
Mechanical Objects

Spatial visualization is the ability of an individual to imagine an object mentally and understand its spatial orientation. There have been multiple works proving that spatial visualization skills can be improved with an appropriate training. Such training warrant a critical place in the undergraduate engineering curricula in many engineering schools as spatial skills are considered vital for students’ success in the technical and design fields [1–4]. Enhanced spatial skills help not only professionals in the engineering field but also everyone in the 21st century environment. Drawing sectional views requires mental manipulation and visual thinking. To enhance students spatial reasoning, one of the authors of this study, conducted a class in spatial visualization. The course-learning goal aimed at improving first-year engineering students’ spatial reasoning through instruction on freehand drawings of sectional view. During the semester, two teaching assistants had to grade more than 500 assignments that consisted of sectional views of mechanical objects. This was a tedious and a time consuming task. Motivated by this experience, this paper proposes a software aiming at automating grading of students’ sectional view drawings. The proposed software will also give live feedback to students while they are working on the drawings. This interactive tool aims to 1) improve the learning experience of first year students, with limited CAD knowledge, and 2) introduce a pedagogical tool that can enhance spatial visualization training.

scholarly journals Self-assessment based on language learning outcomes: a study with first year engineering students

2010 ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar Durán Escribano ◽  
Joana Pierce McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
First Year ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Assessment Practice ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
The Bologna Process

As the Bologna Process moves forward, changes in European systems of higher education are expected. The introduction of the ECTS focussing on the students’ achievements described in terms of the learning outcomes and competences acquired is one of the innovations. This process, encouraged by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, signifies a change in teaching focus, from an input model to an output one, which promotes self-assessment in a flexible curriculum, in this case adapted to student’s language profile. To illustrate this new approach in language learning, a pilot experience with Technical English mining engineering students is discussed, with special attention to learner reflection and self-assessment practices. Students’ progress in self-assessment, based on the introduction of learning outcomes in specific language courses, is analysed to conclude that personal engagement and clear purpose -specified in terms of learning outcomes- seem to have become relevant components to student's self-assessment practice.

Role of Emotional Intelligence in Academic Achievement

2014 ◽  
pp. 255-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tripti Singh ◽  
Manish Kumar Verma ◽  
Rupali Singh
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Social Intelligence ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
School Level ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Academic Achievements ◽  
Emotional Intelligence Inventory

The purpose of this study is to see whether there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. The study respondents were B.Tech first year students from the Agra region. Sampling is stratified, making sure that gender, race, socioeconomic status, and abilities are appropriately represented. The respondents are given Emotional Intelligence Inventory (EII–MM), developed by S. K. Mangal and Shubhra Mangal. It consists of 100 items under four scales .The analysis suggests that there is a significant relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement. IQ alone is no more the measure for success; emotional intelligence, social intelligence, and luck also play a big role in a person's success. This study contributes in acknowledging the fact that even engineering students’ academic achievements are attached with Emotional intelligence. Thus, teaching emotional and social skills only at the school level is not sufficient; this can be taught in engineering studies, as well for accomplishing high academic achievements.

scholarly journals Improving the Teaching of Hypothesis Testing Using a Divide-and-Conquer Strategy and Content Exposure Control in a Gamified Environment

Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 2244
Author(s):  
David Delgado-Gómez ◽  
Franks González-Landero ◽  
Carlos Montes-Botella ◽  
Aaron Sujar ◽  
Sofia Bayona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Divide And Conquer ◽  
P Value ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Engineering Degree ◽  
High Satisfaction ◽  
Statistics Course ◽  
Traditional Class

Hypothesis testing has been pointed out as one of the statistical topics in which students present more misconceptions. In this article, an approach based on the divide-and-conquer methodology is proposed to facilitate its learning. The proposed strategy is designed to sequentially explain and evaluate the different concepts involved in hypothesis testing, ensuring that a new concept is not presented until the previous one has been fully assimilated. The proposed approach, which contains several gamification elements (i.e., points or a leader-board), is implemented into an application via a modern game engine. The usefulness of the proposed approach was assessed in an experiment in which 89 first-year students enrolled in the Statistics course within the Industrial Engineering degree participated. Based on the results of a test aimed at evaluating the acquired knowledge, it was observed that students who used the developed application based on the proposed approach obtained statistically significant higher scores than those that attended a traditional class (p-value < 0.001), regardless of whether they used the learning tool before or after the traditional class. In addition, the responses provided by the students who participated in the study to a test of satisfaction showed their high satisfaction with the application and their interest in the promotion of these tools. However, despite the good results, they also considered that these learning tools should be considered as a complement to the master class rather than a replacement.

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