A pilot study of e-quiz and e-review programs in the online blended learning of first-year engineering mechanics

Background: In traditional teaching philosophy, large-class units such as First-Year Engineering Mechanics have experienced significant challenges with respect to a lack of close lecturer-student interaction, prompt performance feedback, and students’ engagement and self-motivation in the unit study. Online blended learning and self-assessment approaches have become useful tools to reinforce traditional teaching and assessment modes of ‘attending the real lectures’ or to ‘physically sit for the quiz tests’. Their advantage lies in study flexibility and unconstrained self-development of students in the designated unit activities. A pilot study of e-quiz and e-review programs was undertaken in a First-Year Engineering Mechanics unit to evaluate their usefulness in students’ blended learning. Purpose: How to enhance individual students’ unit feedback, minimise the physical constraints of quiz access, and remove the barrier of limited topic-review opportunities is expected to be tackled in this study. Design/Method: The Pearson Mastering Engineering online platform was utilised in the e-quiz practices. This contains interactive self-learning and self-assessment modalities with sufficient hands-on feedback to guide students through an entire set of quiz problems after completing the assessment. The e-review was implemented through Elluminate Live to allow students to participate in weekly online review sessions conducted by the unit lecturer using a graphics tablet. Statistical data were analysed for the user-friendliness of online educational tools, enhanced level of effective learning and the students’ feedback and view of the learning experience.Results: A small number of high-achiever participants tended to best utilise e-quiz program to advance their academic performance when compared to formal assessment components including the in-class quizzes and final examination. Underperforming students (as the majority) presented less interest in the e-quiz primarily due to their ‘assessment-oriented’ mindset. Better understanding of mechanics topics/contents and more engagement and self-motivation were found through the e-quiz surveys. The e-review study suggested that students preferred viewing the recorded e-review sessions to personally participating in the peer-to-peer live consultation. Student participants praised the user-friendly Elluminate Live features in terms of ‘interactive learning’, ‘collaborative learning’ and ‘a sense of learning community’. The usefulness of recorded e-review sessions and comprehensive review materials were also highly commended. Conclusions: The e-quiz pilot study offers great potential to enhance the first-year students’ understanding of complex mechanics concepts and impact positively on their flexible self-evaluation. It particularly facilitates more able students to further advance their achievement levels. The e-review was clearly recognised by students as a supplementary academic support to gain more direct individual interactions with lecturers. The higher utility of e-review materials, especially for viewing recorded e-review sessions, was shown to be beneficial to effective learning. The student disengagement and low participation/survey response numbers are of particular concern, which is anticipated to be altered when both programs are introduced as additional assessment components in the furture study

e-Review Program: An alternative online interaction for a first-year unit of Engineering Mechanics using a virtual classroom

For large first-year units such as Engineering Mechanics 100, a lack of close interactive consultations between individual students and lecturers, and opportunities for weekly topic reviews precludes the enhancement of effective learning outcomes. Such drawbacks can lead to students’ disengagement that ultimately results in their academic underperformance. This e-Review project investigated the effective use of an alternative flexible learning method in which the interactive online teaching tool Elluminate Live was combined with a visual-aid graphics tablet to conduct the weekly e-Review sessions and revisions of past-semester examination questions. As opposed to the conventional in-class review in unit teaching, the difference of the e-Review program lies in its convenient electronic access to unit revision activities through the monitoring of lecturers (as moderators) in a virtual classroom. It is shown that the use of Elluminate Live offers supplementary academic support that is beneficial to students through more direct feedback than can be achieved in a real class. Students also recognise the higher utility of e-Review materials that allow for subsequent viewing of recorded e-Review sessions

Digital Dissemination Platform of Transportation Engineering Education Materials Founded in Adoption Research

INE/AUTC 14.0

Exploration and Innovative Research on Ideological and Political Education in Architectural Mechanics Course

The emphasis and implementation of ideological and political education in courses lie within the courses themselves, ensuring effective education through the process of course implementation and playing a role in nurturing students. This paper explores the elements of ideological and political education in the architectural mechanics course. It provides a detailed design of ideological and political education in accordance with the course content and characteristics. Additionally, innovative designs incorporating ideological elements are introduced for parts of the course. Finally, an application exploration is conducted within the sections of the course, specifically focusing on the subtopic of “rigid frames”, with the hope of providing reference value to related courses

Student-Centered Learning: Functional Requirements for Integrated Systems to Optimize Learning

The realities of the 21st-century learner require that schools and educators fundamentally change their practice. "Educators must produce college- and career-ready graduates that reflect the future these students will face. And, they must facilitate learning through means that align with the defining attributes of this generation of learners."Today, we know more than ever about how students learn, acknowledging that the process isn't the same for every student and doesn't remain the same for each individual, depending upon maturation and the content being learned. We know that students want to progress at a pace that allows them to master new concepts and skills, to access a variety of resources, to receive timely feedback on their progress, to demonstrate their knowledge in multiple ways and to get direction, support and feedback from—as well as collaborate with—experts, teachers, tutors and other students.The result is a growing demand for student-centered, transformative digital learning using competency education as an underpinning.iNACOL released this paper to illustrate the technical requirements and functionalities that learning management systems need to shift toward student-centered instructional models. This comprehensive framework will help districts and schools determine what systems to use and integrate as they being their journey toward student-centered learning, as well as how systems integration aligns with their organizational vision, educational goals and strategic plans.Educators can use this report to optimize student learning and promote innovation in their own student-centered learning environments. The report will help school leaders understand the complex technologies needed to optimize personalized learning and how to use data and analytics to improve practices, and can assist technology leaders in re-engineering systems to support the key nuances of student-centered learning

Engaging students with learning technologies

Curtin University initiated its eScholar program in 2009 making funds available for academic staff to implement innovative teaching using Curtin’s extensive suite of learning technologies. The program is based on the philosophy of engaging students with learning technologies that support their growing understanding through authentic and assessable activities.This publication presents the research findings of each of the eScholar projects conducted in 2010 and 2011. Each chapter has undergone a process of double-blind review resulting in high quality descriptions of learning using current and emerging technologies. The publication is divided into 6 sections based on these technologies.University teaching and learning is faced with many challenges. A major one is recognising appropriate learning technologies and their use that support ways in which adults learn. Rapid advances in technologies can easily seduce those with limited understanding of adult learning. This publication offers clear directions founded on teacher and learner experiences grounded in real classroom activity