Considering the Community of Inquiry Framework in Online Engineering Education

This Research Full Paper presents a semi-systematic literature review of the application of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework in online engineering education. In a generally undertheorized field, the CoI framework has gained considerable attention as a theoretical and methodological means to understand and facilitate learning experiences in online learning environments. However, despite excellent contributions in both these areas, there is a concern about the effect of the disciplinary context and there are calls for more studies investigating disciplinary differences and blended learning environments. We observe that no study to date has tried to summarize and synthesize CoI’s application in engineering education, making informed judgments about its potential for educational research and practice in this particular context difficult. This review aims to contribute to closing this gap. Based on the reviewed articles, we conclude that CoI is a promising framework not only as an evaluation tool for online and blended learning environments in engineering education, but also for the design of online engineering courses that want to build their learning design on a collaborative constructivist view of learning. Due to the relatively limited number of CoI-based studies in online engineering education, we conclude that more research of CoI is needed in the field, especially in specific learning contexts. Compared to the richness of the general literature on CoI and in other fields, the utilization of CoI in engineering education is still very new and appears to still be in a junior state. We suggest several directions for improvement and further research both in order to foster CoI’s theoretical development as well as to provide practical guidance for the design of engineering specific learning environments based on reliable and valid research

Considering the Community of Inquiry Framework in Online Engineering Education – A Literature Review

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework has gained considerable attention as a theoretical and methodological means to understand and facilitate online learning experiences. Following calls for more studies investigating disciplinary differences and blended learning environments, this semi-systematic literature review summarizes and synthesizes CoI’s application in online engineering education, to provide a base for informed judgments about its potential for educational research and practice in this particular context. Based on 22 reviewed articles, we show that CoI is a promising framework not only as an evaluation tool for online and blended learning environments in engineering education but also for the design of online engineering courses that want to build their learning design on a collaborative constructivist view of learning. However, compared to the richness of the general literature on CoI and in other fields, the utilization of CoI in engineering education is still very new and appears to still be in a junior state. Accordingly, we suggest several directions for improvement and further research

Considering the Community of Inquiry Framework in Online Engineering Education

This Research Full Paper presents a semi-systematic literature review of the application of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework in online engineering education. In a generally undertheorized field, the CoI framework has gained considerable attention as a theoretical and methodological means to understand and facilitate learning experiences in online learning environments. However, despite excellent contributions in both these areas, there is a concern about the effect of the disciplinary context and there are calls for more studies investigating disciplinary differences and blended learning environments. We observe that no study to date has tried to summarize and synthesize CoI’s application in engineering education, making informed judgments about its potential for educational research and practice in this particular context difficult. This review aims to contribute to closing this gap. Based on the reviewed articles, we conclude that CoI is a promising framework not only as an evaluation tool for online and blended learning environments in engineering education, but also for the design of online engineering courses that want to build their learning design on a collaborative constructivist view of learning. Due to the relatively limited number of CoI-based studies in online engineering education, we conclude that more research of CoI is needed in the field, especially in specific learning contexts. Compared to the richness of the general literature on CoI and in other fields, the utilization of CoI in engineering education is still very new and appears to still be in a junior state. We suggest several directions for improvement and further research both in order to foster CoI’s theoretical development as well as to provide practical guidance for the design of engineering specific learning environments based on reliable and valid research

Digitalisation of condition monitoring data as input for fatigue evaluation of wheelsets

A field test in which a train was run at different speeds over an impact load detector is described. One of the wheelsets in the train had severe wheel tread damage. The results are presented and the relation between the speed of the train and the magnitude of the impact loads registered for the two wheels is discussed. The defects on the wheel tread have been studied and scanned by means of 3D laser and their characteristics are described. An in-house software for the simulation of dynamic wheel–rail interaction has been improved by including the possibility to account for the cross-coupling of the two wheels within the same wheelset. The contact algorithm and a possible implementation of discrete defects in the in-house software are discussed. The in-house software gives, among other possible outputs, the maximum dynamic loads occurring at both wheels of the wheelset. To show an example of the utility of such information, fatigue analyses for the axle are performed for the different running conditions used during the field tests. The impact loads measured on the day of the tests are given as input to the fatigue analyses

Online and Blended Labs for Practical Mechanical Engineering

Lab training is a key element in most engineering education programs in preparation for engineering profession tasks. Universities worldwide are exploring new possibilities and different forms to arrange online and blended labs as an alternative to pure campus training. This study compares online and blended lab setups in four cases of engineering education at European technical universities. The results show that online and blended labs can achieve similar learning outcomes, with blended labs being particularly effective in combining online learning with hands-on elements. Students reported high levels of satisfaction and teachers noted the benefits of online learning environments, but common challenges included ensuring student engagement, increased self-regulation requirements, and the high effort needed to design online or blended environments. The study provides course design guidelines and discusses implications for future research and implementation in universities worldwide

Editor\u27s Introduction

Each of the three articles in this issue can be seen to highlight a different dimension of the concept of praxis. Muscat emphasises action, Baillie and Levine exemplify the use of theory as a basis for unpacking dominant paradigms and assumptions, and Cumming-Potvin and Currie emphasise critical reflection. Taken together, these articles provide a robust foundation for understanding the nature of praxis as engineers engage with issues of social justice and peace

Seeing through the lens of social justice: A threshold for engineering

In recent times the need for educational research dedicated to engineering education has been recognised. This PhD project is a contribution to the development of engineering education scholarship and the growing body of engineering education research. In this project it was recognised that problem solving is a central activity to engineering. However, it was also recognised that the conditions for doing engineering are changing, especially in light of pressing issues of poverty and environmental sustainability that humanity currently faces, and as a consequence, engineering education needs to emphasise problem definition to a greater extent. One mechanism for achieving this, which has been adopted by some engineering educators in recent years, is through courses that explicitly relate engineering to social justice. However, creating this relationship requires critical interdisciplinary thinking that is alien to most engineering students. In this dissertation it is suggested that for engineering students, and more generally, engineers, looking at their practice and profession through a social justice lens might be seen as a threshold that needs to be crossed. By studying the variation present among students in three different courses at three different North American universities, the intention was to understand how students approach and internalise social justice as a perspective on engineering and/or develop their abilities to think critically. A conceptual model to frame the study was developed by combining elements of threshold concept theory and the educational research methodology, phenomenographic variation theory. All three of the courses studied operated on a similar basic pedagogical model, however, the courses were framed differently, with social justice in the foreground or in the background with the focus on, in one case, ethics and in the other, sustainability. All courses studied appeared to be successful in encouraging engineering students to engage in critical thinking and a similar general trend in the development of students’ conceptions of social justice was observed in each of the three courses. However, it does appear that if one is interested in developing an articulated understanding of social justice, with respect to engineering, that an explicit focus on social justice is preferable

The ongoing process of aligning two courses for STEM teachers in a new Master\u27s programme at Chalmers: An example from Learning and Leadership

As the term constructive alignment (Biggs, 1999) indicates, the central idea of this educational framework is that different aspects of a teaching and learning unit/situation should be brought together in a way that is mutually reinforcing various aspects and not putting them at odds. The aim of this poster is to illustrate an ongoing process of aligning two related courses within a programme by drawing on experiences from developing two courses for the Master\u27s programme "Learning and Leadership" which started at Chalmers in 2011. The two courses in question, Natural Science and Technology Education 1 and 2 (NSTE1/2) focus on issues of teaching and learning in the three upper secondary school subjects chemistry, physics and technology. The first course is more practical in nature while the second is more theoretical. At the moment the first cohort of students (n=6) has gone through both courses and preparations are being made to run the first course for the second time. While constructive alignment is the guiding principle of the work the practical principle for the long term development of the courses is to work through a series of iterations with the end of each course serving as major checkpoints for the process. At these points, in conjunction with the formal course evaluations, the current iteration of the course in question is evaluated and potential improvements considered not only in relation to the singular course but to both courses together as well as the broader context of the whole programme. However, the formal course evaluation through web survey have been considered to be insufficient (n=5 responses) to serve as the sole input to this evaluation and development process. Also, no additional structured data gathering has so far been carried out either by the course leader or a third party. However, by drawing on the principles of action research (e.g., Noffke & Somekh, 2005), a wealth of input on the courses has been collected on a regular basis, for example from reading student assignments and engaging in frequent discussion about the courses with students and other course stakeholders. Some of this input has been written down in a journal and all of it has contributed to help the course leader construct a fuller understanding of the courses on both a practical and a meta level. Reflection is a key concept here as well as dialogue with key course stakeholders. While this process so far mainly has been of an informal nature, it is an approach lecturers at Chalmers easily can adopt and apply to their own practice, and it can serve as a starting point for a more formal and structured exploration of the continued process of aligning the two courses in question

Seeing through the lens of social justice: A threshold for engineering

In recent times the need for educational research dedicated to engineering education has been recognised. This PhD project is a contribution to the development of engineering education scholarship and the growing body of engineering education research. In this project it was recognised that problem solving is a central activity to engineering. However, it was also recognised that the conditions for doing engineering are changing, especially in light of pressing issues of poverty and environmental sustainability that humanity currently faces, and as a consequence, engineering education needs to emphasise problem definition to a greater extent. One mechanism for achieving this, which has been adopted by some engineering educators in recent years, is through courses that explicitly relate engineering to social justice. However, creating this relationship requires critical interdisciplinary thinking that is alien to most engineering students. In this dissertation it is suggested that for engineering students, and more generally, engineers, looking at their practice and profession through a social justice lens might be seen as a threshold that needs to be crossed. By studying the variation present among students in three different courses at three different North American universities, the intention was to understand how students approach and internalise social justice as a perspective on engineering and/or develop their abilities to think critically. A conceptual model to frame the study was developed by combining elements of threshold concept theory and the educational research methodology, phenomenographic variation theory. All three of the courses studied operated on a similar basic pedagogical model, however, the courses were framed differently, with social justice in the foreground or in the background with the focus on, in one case, ethics and in the other, sustainability. All courses studied appeared to be successful in encouraging engineering students to engage in critical thinking and a similar general trend in the development of students’ conceptions of social justice was observed in each of the three courses. However, it does appear that if one is interested in developing an articulated understanding of social justice, with respect to engineering, that an explicit focus on social justice is preferable

Seeing through the lens of social justice: a threshold for engineering

In this paper, we have explored how students in a cross-disciplinary course on engineering and socialjustice approached the idea of using social justice as a lens for looking at engineering. We have used anadapted phenomenographic approach [Marton, F., and Booth, S., 1997. Learning and awareness. Mahwah:Lawrence Erlbaum], together with Meyer and Land’s [Meyer, J.H.F., and Land, R., 2003. Threshold conceptsand troublesome knowledge: linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines. ETLProject Occasional Report 4 [online]. Available from: http://www.tla.ed.ac.uk/etl/docs/ETLreport4.pdf[Accessed 1 January 2009]] threshold concept framework, to study the variation present among the studentsin the class as they attempt to pass through the threshold of this lens. Data were collected throughsemi-structured interviews with students.We examine the liminal space that students hover in for severalweeks, not knowing whether or if they will eventually pass through the portal into new territories. Wefound nine conceptions of increasing complexity present among the students in the class. We suggestthat the students’ collective experiences illustrate potential journeys along a spectrum of liminality andthrough the threshold.We conclude with some implications for what can be done to facilitate the students’transition through the threshold, thereby contributing to the development of this aspect of engineeringeducation