EVALUATING the EFFECT of A STUDENT-CENTERED PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH on STUDENTS SKILLS and KNOWLEDGE in COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN (CAD) COURSE

This paper presents a quasi-experimental pre and post test design to explore the effects of a student-centered pedagogical approach in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) education. In this study, students in experimental group generated CAD screencast tutorials, recorded the supporting audio, shared the videos with their peers, and provided feedback to each other s screencast. A life-long learning survey, an engineering attitude survey, and a CAD modeling exam were used as the study instruments. Students learning outcomes were evaluated by analyzing data collected over five years from 17 classrooms. Findings indicated that first generation college students or female students were more receptive to the student centered instructional approaches and they improved their life-long learning skills and engineering attitudes. We observed a strong evidence that when students designed screencast exercises, their CAD exam performance improved. This study also contributes to our knowledge on how to effectively assess engineering attitudes and life-long learning skills

Promoting life-long learning skills in CAD using the peergenerated screencast tutorials

To promote life-long learning skills in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) education, authors designed and implemented a student-centered instruction in the CAD courses. A quasiexperimental pre-and-post test research design was implemented. Experimental group students were asked to design screencast tutorials with their verbal explanations recorded. Students shared their screencast tutorials with their peers and provided feedback to each other\u27s video tutorials. Control group students were asked to review the instructor made screencast tutorials. A life-long learning survey, an engineering attitude survey, an exit project survey, and a CAD modeling exam were used as the study instruments. A total of 147 students participated in this study over three years. Findings indicated that female and first generation college students in the experimental group performed better than their peers in the control group in the CAD modeling exam. Our student-centered instruction was more affective on female students\u27 and first generation college students\u27 skills and knowledge than male students\u27 and not-first generation college students\u27 skills and knowledge