Everyday classroom teaching practices for self-regulated learning

This study investigated everyday classroom teaching that provides opportunities for young adolescent students to self-regulate their learning. Evidence drawn from literature in the field of self-regulated learning (SRL) underpins this investigation that was focused on the transition years from primary school to secondary school. Research was conducted in Australia as dual case studies, with data collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations from eight teacher participants. The data were analysed through the lens of a conceptual framework that aligns the findings with the fundamentals for SRL. The four themes generated are best understood as teaching approaches that describe how teachers within social learning environments connect the goal orientated learning with purposeful engagement, facilitate the activation of thinking strategies through instructional support, and diversify learning opportunities that enable an expectation of success. The findings are illustrated by classroom examples of the core practices that influence students' self-regulatory capacity. An outcome of this research is the SRL model that offers a vision for pedagogy to support teacher professional dialogue and learning, and a practical decision-making tool intended to guide teachers to reflect, analyse and tailor practices for their everyday classroom teaching. The paper concludes with some suggestions that provide scope for future research

Introducing Java : the case for fundamentals-first

Java has increasingly become the language of choice for teaching introductory programming. In this paper, we examine the different approaches to teaching Java (Objects-first, Fundamentals-first and GUI-first) to ascertain whether there exists an agreed ordering of topics and difficulty levels between nine relatively basic Java topics. The results of our literature survey and student questionnaire suggests that the Fundamentals-first approach may have benefits from the student's point of view and an agreed ordering of the Java topics accompanying this approach has been established

Enhancing Student Engagement in Business Sustainability Through Games

Purpose: This practice-focused study explores the value students place on the Sustainable Strategies Game which seeks to improve student engagement in business sustainability through enhanced game-based learning. This game provides an alternative collaborative learning environment to the traditional instructivist approach in order to enrich Education for Sustainability learning experiences and enhance student engagement. Design/Methodology/Approach: Students’ reflections on their game-based learning experiences and suggestions for game development were collected through a short qualitative survey. Results are explored through three frameworks, the Multifaceted Student Value Model, the Dimensions of Engagement Framework and the UK Higher Education Authority Framework for Engagement Through Partnership. Findings: Research findings suggest the Sustainable Strategies Game provides game-based learning within Education for Sustainability that delivers ‘edutainment’ within an active, collaborative and experiential learning environment that the students value. It is also able to challenge thinking and emotionally engage students with the fundamentals of business sustainability. Reflection-on-action and the students’ role as co-researchers in game development allow students to become active participants in their learning as well as knowledge producers and evaluators. These outcomes deliver the UK Higher Education Authority’s core facets of student engagement through partnership. Research limitations/implications: This practice-focused study presents the self-reported results of a one-time, small study which does not offer generalised, independently validated responses. However, the findings may be of interest to educators considering the adoption of game-based learning and those seeking new learning cultures for EfS. Practical Implications: Game-based learning and teaching approaches can achieve a learner-centred active, collaborative learning environment that enhances student engagement with business sustainability. Originality/Value: Experiences gained from this study should assist others in the implementation of game-based learning to engage students in business sustainability

Renewable energies course for Energy Engineering students at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC)

Since September 2016, the Technical University of Catalonia (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, UPC) – BarcelonaTech has a new Campus in Barcelona City, the Diagonal-Besòs Campus. In this new Campus appears the Eastern Barcelona School of Engineering (Escola d’Enginyeria de Barcelona Est, EEBE), with new Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees. In this framework, also since September 2016, the EEBE is offering the new 4-year Bachelor’s Degree in Energy Engineering with a total number of 240 ECTS credits. Current article deals with the inclusion of the course about sizing and design of renewable energy systems in the context of this degree. In particular, and although this topic was eventually abandoned in the initial degree curriculum, the paper presents the development of a 3rd-year course, Renewable Energies, that focuses on this topic.Postprint (published version

Approaches to the teaching of design : an engineering subject centre guide

This booklet seeks to provide a resource for all those with an interest in design, and the education and training of engineering students to carry out the design process. A brief description of the internal and external requirements for design in the engineering curriculum is followed by a review of different approaches to design teaching currently employed in engineering schools and universities worldwide. Suggestions for further reading about each approach and a reference section are also provided

Systems approach to engineering education design

[Abstract]: The design and delivery of effective engineering education to diverse cohorts of adult learners is challenging. The sheer volume and diversity of published literature relating to the scholarship of teaching and learning presents a challenge to educational designers and teaching practitioners alike. A systems approach to design and development, incorporating key principles from the literature, can assist practitioners (particularly those new to teaching) in the effective design and delivery of technical courses. This paper presents a research-based educational lifecycle model to support the design of engineering education. The paper then describes a requirements-driven development methodology that has been applied successfully to the design and delivery of a number of technical courses involving different cohorts of adult learners. The application of the methodology to development of an introductory radar systems course is used as a case study throughout the paper

Curriculum Innovation: Incorporating the Kern Engineering Entrepreneurial Network (KEEN) Framework into Online Discussions

The purpose of this study was to respond to the following research question: How does the Kern Engineering Entrepreneurial Network (KEEN) framework build interest in technical topic areas, impact student learning outcomes, and develop the entrepreneurial mindset when applied to the engineering classroom? The KEEN framework was developed to combine the entrepreneurial mindset with engineering education to produce a more valuable, strategically prepared engineer, rather than simply an “obedient engineer”. The framework proposes that the entrepreneurial mindset of students is increased by promoting curiosity, encouraging connections, and creating value. The results from this work provide insight into the impact and implications resulting from applying the KEEN framework to the engineering classroom via online discussions

ITSB: An Intelligent Tutoring System Authoring Tool

Abstract. Intelligent Tutoring System Builder (ITSB) is an authoring tool designed and developed to aid teachers in constructing intelligent tutoring systems in a multidisciplinary fields. The teacher is needed to create a set of pedagogical fundamentals, which, in line, are inured to automatically build up a broad tutor framework and construct an intelligent tutoring system. In this paper an explanation of the theory and the architecture of the tool is outlined. A presentation of several system components, the requirements of the different components, integration of these components in ITSB tool are shown. Furthermore, implanting of requirements, cognitive principle, and common design fundamentals in the tool to ease the use of teachers. A variety of design matters, an example of building an intelligent tutoring system for teaching Java language using ITSB tool and an evaluation are presented

Power Flow Modelling of Dynamic Systems - Introduction to Modern Teaching Tools

As tools for dynamic system modelling both conventional methods such as transfer function or state space representation and modern power flow based methods are available. The latter methods do not depend on energy domain, are able to preserve physical system structures, visualize power conversion or coupling or split, identify power losses or storage, run on conventional software and emphasize the relevance of energy as basic principle of known physical domains. Nevertheless common control structures as well as analysis and design tools may still be applied. Furthermore the generalization of power flow methods as pseudo-power flow provides with a universal tool for any dynamic modelling. The phenomenon of power flow constitutes an up to date education methodology. Thus the paper summarizes fundamentals of selected power flow oriented modelling methods, presents a Bond Graph block library for teaching power oriented modelling as compact menu-driven freeware, introduces selected examples and discusses special features.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 4 table