Student Expectations: The effect of student background and experience

CONTEXT The perspectives and previous experiences that students bring to their programs of study can affect their approaches to study and the depth of learning that they achieve Prosser & Trigwell, 1999; Ramsden, 2003). Graduate outcomes assume the attainment of welldeveloped independent learning skills which can be transferred to the work-place. PURPOSE This 5-year longitudinal study investigates factors influencing students’ approaches to learning in the fields of Engineering, Software Engineering, and Computer Science, at two higher education institutes delivering programs of various levels in Australia and New Zealand. The study aims to track the development of student approaches to learning as they progress through their program. Through increased understanding of students’ approaches, faculty will be better able to design teaching and learning strategies to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. This paper reports on the first stage of the project. APPROACH In August 2017, we ran a pilot of our survey using the Revised Study Process Questionnaire(Biggs, Kember, & Leung, 2001) and including some additional questions related to student demographics and motivation for undertaking their current program of study. Data were analysed to evaluate the usefulness of data collected and to understand the demographics of the student cohort. Over the period of the research, data will be collected using the questionnaire and through focus groups and interviews. RESULTS Participants provided a representative sample, and the data collected was reasonable, allowing the questionnaire design to be confirmed. CONCLUSIONS At this preliminary stage, the study has provided insight into the student demographics at both institutes and identified aspects of students’ modes of engagement with learning. Some areas for improvement of the questionnaire have been identified, which will be implemented for the main body of the study

From Participation to Differentiation: A Framework for Re-Designing a Socio-Technical System

Engineers are responsible for re-designing socio-technical systems (STSs). At the same time, the current literature on engineering re-design methodology is predominantly oriented towards technical artefacts. This methodology is not directly transferable to STSs, since STSs differ in the role of workers operating the system in collective activity. Accordingly, the central question of this dissertation is: How can engaging STS operators as participants in re-designing an assembly production system develop an approach for re-designing STSs that operationalizes human value and potential? To this aim, this dissertation develops a framework for re-designing a STS. This framework is developed with design research methodology and grounded theory, modeling the re-design of an industrial assemble-to-order production system (a sociotechnical system archetype) with 32 participants. The model consists of seven steps – ethical considerations for participation, emic problem analysis, emic system modeling, collective creativity, differentiated designs, emic problem evaluation, and emic system evaluation. The model and its supporting mechanisms make the following research contributions. (1) A developed roadmap of ethical considerations invites STS operators to take part in re-design with a basis of trust between researchers/engineers/designers and participants. (2) The developed investigative approaches for STS problem analysis and system modeling engage participants to define reference models and success criteria that guide the re-design process, including re-design foci. The reference models and success criteria before vs. after the re-design intervention are also compared to evaluate the redesign impact and experience, informing future re-design. (3) The developed model of OPEN collective creativity, from a co-design activity, engages participants in transforming the re-design foci into differentiated, contextualized designs. The nonlinear model centralizes OPEN actions (opportunities, problems, enquiries/questions, and needs) between concept and detail ideas, integrating problem solving and inquiry with collaboration. These research contributions engage STS operators as participants in operationalizing human value across the developed model for re-designing a STS. Future research is proposed to assess the limitations of the proposed re-design framework and to examine its transferability for broader research and practice in re-designing STSs

A new strategy for active learning to maximise performance in intensive courses

This paper describes an innovation in the delivery of an introductory thermodynamics course offered to students studying towards an engineering qualification. The course was delivered in intensive format, across three weeks of study. Students find it challenging to engage with complex engineering topics in a short period of time, and there is no sizeable study break for pre-exam study. This means that students cannot afford to delay in learning and applying content. Every class must be an opportunity to interact with the content immediately. The innovation described here involved implementing a new daily structure for the course that attempted to mimic the standard process by which students learn material, apply it, study it and practice it in across a traditional-length semester. The new structure involved integrating the lecture and recitation components to the course to increasing the active learning during material delivery, then allowing students to engage in guided study and open-book formative assessment. This paper describes the implementation of this innovation. A brief review of the literature on intensive courses is provided, followed by a description of the approach used in this particular class. The results are then presented, and evaluated in the context of the research and the instructor’s own critical reflection

Chair a session/Integration of theory and practice in the learning and teaching process

The theme for AAEE-2017 is “Integrated Engineering”, which covers a range of sub-themes, such as: Integration of theory and practice in the learning and teaching process Interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary engineering programs and learning environments Integration of teaching and research in the engineering training process The role and impact of engineering students and educators in the wider community Systems perspectives on engineering education. Integration is also about connections, e.g. between students and teachers, between students in learning together, and between educational institutions and industry and wider society in the engineering education process