scholarly journals Innovative methodology at the university. Its effects on learning processes of university students.

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo Gargallo ◽  
Isabel Morera ◽  
Eloïna García
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Team Work ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Learning Platform ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

We wanted to assess the impact of learning-centered methodology on learning strategies and learning approaches of a students’ group of Chemistry. They were first year engineering students from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. We used a pre-experimental design with pretest and posttest measures by means of the CEVEAPEU and CPE questionnaires. The sample consisted of 20 students. The teaching methods included expositive methodology, questions, problem solving, development of a monograph, presentations, laboratory practices, team work, tutoring in the classroom and an evaluation system that made use of training procedures that returned feedback to students (two diagnostic tests, assessment of solved problems, self-assessment using the e-learning platform of the university, oral assessment in class, written tests, etc..). Significant improvements in learning strategies scores in the posttest and increasing in deep approach were found.

scholarly journals WHY DOES IT MATTER? EXPLAINING THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPLEMENTARY STUDIES TO FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Donald ◽  
Sofie Lachapelle ◽  
Thomas Sasso ◽  
Kyle Augusto ◽  
M. Gloria Gonzalez-Morales
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Engineering Curriculum ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Soft Skill ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The University

While complementary studies are an accreditation requirement and feature prominently in the Canadian engineering curriculum, focus-group conversations with upper-year engineering students have indicated that a lack of awareness of, and appreciation for, soft skills development often prevents students from benefiting from complementary studies to the fullest. Given this reported difficulty to grasp the importance of complementary studies, a study was undertaken at the University of Guelph using a quasi-experimental design to explore the possibility that triggering self-assessment and awareness about career development early in the engineering curriculum promotes greater engagement with complementary studies and soft-skill development. First-year engineering students took part in a learner-centered activity focused on the importance of complementary studies for the development of soft skills. Through active learning exercises and case studies of successful engineering graduates, who described the skills and knowledge required to perform their daily work, the session was designed to encourage students to develop greater self-awareness and intentionality about complementary studies and their associated graduate attributes. The outcomes of this activity and issues on how to embed it in the Engineering first-year curriculum will be discussed

Assessment of Individual and Teamwork Attributes in Undergraduate Engineering Students

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas O'Neill
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Team Work ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Personal Support ◽  
Program Accreditation ◽  
Team Projects ◽  
University Of Calgary ◽  
Teamwork Skills ◽  
The University

Engineers Canada Accreditation Board lists12 Canadian Engineering Graduate Attributes necessaryfor program accreditation. One of these is the Individualand Team Work attribute. At the University of Calgary anannual survey has been developed to assess studentperceptions of teamwork. The survey examines students’overall satisfaction with teamwork activities, attitudestowards teamwork, perceived emphasis and supportreceived from the department, teamwork skills(competence and importance), and personal support forteamwork initiatives. Based on the responses from pastyears two trends can be identified: students perceive agap between their competence in teamwork skills and theimportance of those skills, and students show high levelsof support for more teamwork initiatives. Following thesetrends three recommendations can be made: teamworkskills development activities for the students, moreopportunities for peer feedback in team projects, andsupport for first year students. By annually administeringassessments engineering departments can evaluate theirsuccess in developing the necessary Individual and TeamWork attribute required by Engineers CanadaAccreditation Board for program accreditation.

The Development of GENE 101 – A ‘Strategies and Skills for Academic Success’ Course for First Year Engineering Students at Waterloo

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
William S. Owen ◽  
Maria Barichello ◽  
Andrea Prier
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Engineering Faculty ◽  
Success Course ◽  
Transition From High School ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

As a way to help ease the struggles thatstudents face in the transition from high school intouniversity, the Engineering Faculty at the University ofWaterloo started a reduced load program in 2010. Duringtheir first term at Waterloo, engineering students who arein academic jeopardy after midterms can drop twoprescribed courses to give the students an opportunity tofinish the term on a successful note. The two droppedcourses are taken during the following spring term alongwith a third course, GENE 101 – Strategies and Skills forAcademic Success. After successfully completing thereduced load terms, the students return to a full load.GENE 101 is considered a foundational success course.This paper will look at the curriculum and structure of thecourse and the impact it has had on engineering students.At the time of this writing, two groups of students who tookGENE 101 and the reduced load program have graduatedfrom Waterloo as engineers.

scholarly journals FROM STEM TO STEAM IN ENGINEERING DESIGN

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chantal Rodier ◽  
Mohamed Galaleldin ◽  
Justine Boudreau ◽  
Hanan Anis
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Early Years ◽  
First Year ◽  
Arts And Humanities ◽  
Curricular Design ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Creativity, communication skills, interdisciplinary sensitivity, and cultural and civic responsibility are vital skills and perspectives to inculcate in contemporary engineering students. A number of studies have demonstrated the benefits of exposing engineering students to arts, as studying arts and humanities can open up their minds to creative ideas from great minds outside of science and engineering. In most cases, engineering students are exposed to the arts by taking a few non-technical courses as electives. Many students view these courses as less important and irrelevant to their field of studies. Integrating the arts into the technical engineering curriculum is challenging but critical to engineering design, particularly in early years, and represents a natural opportunity. This paper discusses the approach taken by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa of exposing students to the arts through curricular and extra-curricular design activities. These include offering design challenges, a first-year engineering design course and summer internships. This paper also discusses the challenges that arise in delivering such curriculum and the impact of such exposure on the engineering students involved.

scholarly journals FROM STEM TO STEAM IN ENGINEERING DESIGN

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chantal Rodier ◽  
Mohamed Galaleldin ◽  
Justine Boudreau ◽  
Hanan Anis
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Early Years ◽  
First Year ◽  
Arts And Humanities ◽  
Curricular Design ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Creativity, communication skills, interdisciplinary sensitivity, and cultural and civic responsibility are vital skills and perspectives to inculcate in contemporary engineering students. A number of studies have demonstrated the benefits of exposing engineering students to arts, as studying arts and humanities can open up their minds to creative ideas from great minds outside of science and engineering. In most cases, engineering students are exposed to the arts by taking a few non-technical courses as electives. Many students view these courses as less important and irrelevant to their field of studies. Integrating the arts into the technical engineering curriculum is challenging but critical to engineering design, particularly in early years, and represents a natural opportunity. This paper discusses the approach taken by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa of exposing students to the arts through curricular and extra-curricular design activities. These include offering design challenges, a first-year engineering design course and summer internships. This paper also discusses the challenges that arise in delivering such curriculum and the impact of such exposure on the engineering students involved.

Engineering for good: A case of community driven engineering innovation

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chinweike Eseonu ◽  
Martin A Cortes
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Technology Innovation ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
First Year ◽  
Engineering Curriculum ◽  
Engineering Design Process ◽  
The World ◽  
The University ◽  
Social Consideration

There is a culture of disengagement from social consideration in engineering disciplines. This means that first year engineering students, who arrive planning to change the world through engineering, lose this passion as they progress through the engineering curriculum. The community driven technology innovation and investment program described in this paper is an attempt to reverse this trend by fusing community engagement with the normal engineering design process. This approach differs from existing project or trip based approaches – outreach – because the focus is on local communities with which the university team forms a long-term partnership through weekly in-person meetings and community driven problem statements – engagement.

scholarly journals Exploring new learning paradigms in ODL: A reflection on the paper of Barber, Donnelly and Rizvi (2013): “An avalanche is coming: Higher education and the revolution ahead”.

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom H Brown
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Teaching And Learning Strategies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Revolution

<p class="Paragraph1"><span lang="EN-US">The paper of Barber, Donnelly &amp; Rizvi (2013): “An avalanche is coming: Higher education and the revolution ahead”  addresses some significant issues in higher education and poses some challenging questions to ODL (Open and Distance Learning) administrators, policy makers and of course to ODL faculty in general.  Barber et al.’s paper does not specifically address the area of teaching and learning theories, strategies and methodologies per se.  In this paper I would therefore like to reflect on the impact that the contemporary changes and challenges that Barber et al. describes, have on teaching and learning approaches and paradigms.  In doing so I draw on earlier work about future learning paradigms and navigationism (Brown, 2006).  We need a fresh approach and new skills to survive the revolution ahead.  We need to rethink our teaching and learning strategies to be able to provide meaningful learning opportunities in the future that lies ahead.</span></p>

scholarly journals The Impact of a Required Undergraduate Health and Wellness Course on Students’ Awareness and Knowledge of Physical Activity and Chronic Disease

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usha Kuruganti
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Undergraduate Curriculum ◽  
Health And Wellness ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Capstone Course ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Wellness Course ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

As part of the undergraduate curriculum, the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) requires all students to take an undergraduate course in physical activity, health and wellness in their third year of study. This capstone course allows students to integrate concepts from their program regarding physical activity, fitness, and wellness. While students have anecdotally indicated that this course has improved their knowledge of health and wellness, this data had not been quantitatively assessed previously. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the course on students’ views of the impact of physical activity on disease and overall health and wellness. A survey was administered to the students enrolled in the course at the beginning and again at the end of the semester. The survey requested data in four categories; 1) the demographics of the student, 2) students’ knowledge of health agencies and guidelines, 3) students’ physical activity, health and wellness awareness and 4) students’ self-assessment of their knowledge of physical activity and chronic disease. The data showed that, at the end of the course, students felt that they improved in three areas; 1) their knowledge of health agencies and guidelines, 2) their awareness of physical activity and its impact on health and wellness and 3) their knowledge of physical activity and chronic disease. The results of this work provided information on the impact of a required health and wellness course on students’ knowledge of health and suggested that the material in the course helped their overall understanding of health. 

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.

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