INCORPORATING WEB TECHNOLOGY IN FACE TO FACE COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN AN ENGINEERING COURSE

Traditional and monologue type of teaching and learning environment has been at the saturated stage. The teachers and students have shown their indifferences toward teaching and learning process. New approach, which requires students’ involvement in learning process, was introduced. Peer based learning activities through face-to-face interaction have been introduced to students. Variety of learner centered learning activities was developed and it has contributed in developing new learning culture to the students, i.e. collaborative and shared out attitude towards each other. Applying the Web Technology to this cooperative learning environment promotes more active and personal learning experiences to each individual student. Through threaded discussion facility students are able to evaluate, comment, share and enrich other ideas, opinions and problems. Web technology supports the face-to-face cooperative learning, as students are able to keep their group and class learning activities on beyond their scheduled formal class meeting. Variety teaching-learning scenarios certainly play prominent role to this group activity

PEMBELAJARAN BERBASIS WEB SEBAGAI METODA KOMPLEMEN KEGIATAN PENDIDIKAN DAN PELATIHAN*

Kemajuan teknologi informasi khususnya teknologi komunikasi berbasis komputer sangat pesat. Kemajuan teknologi komunikasi komputer tersebut menawarkan cara alternatif untuk melaksanakan kegiatan pembelajaran. Pembelajaran berbasis komputer menuntut peserta didik terlibat aktif dan partisipatif dalam proses pembelajarannya. Peserta didik dituntut untuk berinisiatif untuk menentukan apa, bagaimana dan kapan kegiatan belajar akan dilakukan. Pembelajaran melalui web menuntut bukan saja ketrampilan peserta didik seperti terampil mengoperasikan komputer, membaca dan menulis tapi juga menuntut perilaku pribadi yang terbuka, disiplin dan mandiri. Skenario mengajar dan belajar perlu disiapkan secara matang dalam sebuah kurikulum pembelajaran yang memang dirancang berbasis web. Mengimplementasikan pembelajaran berbasis web bukan berarti sekedar meletakkan materi ajar pada web. Selain materi ajar, skenario pembelajaran perlu disiapkan dengan matang untuk mengundang keterlibatan peserta didik secara aktif dan konstruktif dapat proses belajar mereka. Mengkombinasikan antara pertemuan secara tatap muka dengan pembelajaran berbasis web dapat meningkatkan kontribusi dan interaktifitas antar peserta didik. Melalui tatap muka peserta didik dapat mengenal sesama peserta didik dan guru pendampingnya. Keakraban ini sangat menunjang kerja kolaborasi mereka secara virtual. Persiapan matang sebelum mengimplementasikan sebuah pembelajaran berbasis web memegang peran penting demi kelancaran proses pembelajaran. Segala persiapan seperti penjadwalan sampai dengan penentuan teknis komunikasi selama proses pembelajaran merupakan tahapan penting dalam melaksanakan pembelajaran berbasis web

Understanding of Student Task Interpretation, Design Planning, and Cognitive Strategies during Engineering Design Activities in Grades 9-12

The objective of this study was to describe the task interpretation of students engaged in a design activity and determine the extent to which students translate their understanding of their design task to their planning and cognitive strategies. Twenty-nine students at one Colorado high school participated in this study. Students worked individually in the Architectural Design class (n=7), and in teams in the Robotics Design class (n=22). To capture students’ perceptions of their understanding of the task, planning strategies, and cognitive strategies, the Engineering Design Questionnaire (EDQ) was used. The development of the EDQ was guided by Butler and Cartier’s Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) model. Besides the EDQ, a Web-based Engineering Design Notebook was developed to facilitate students reporting planning activities and engineering design strategies. Graphical views are used to present quantitative and qualitative analysis of data collected in this study. In addition, the mean scores of design phases (i.e., SRL dimensions) were compared across SRL features (i.e., task interpretation, planning strategies, and cognitive strategies). From the analysis, the findings suggest that the level of understanding of the task were high in problem definition, conceptual design, and preliminary design. In contrast, students were found to be lacking on those three design process components in the area of planning strategies. Students performed well in cognitive strategies except for problem definition

Engineering Design Activity: Understanding How Different Design Activities Influence Students\u27 Motivation in Grades 9-12

The objective of this study was to evaluate grade 9-12 students’ motivation while engaged in two different engineering design projects: marble-sorter and bridge designs. The motivation components measured in this study were focused on students’ intrinsic (IGO) and extrinsic (EGO) goal orientations, task value (TV), self-efficacy for learning and performance (SELP), and control belief (CB). After finishing each project, students were asked to complete an Engineering Design Questionnaire (EDQ) survey instrument. The instrument consisted of 26 items modified from motivational scales of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ).Besides the motivational scales, five demographic and two open-ended questions exploring students’ most and least motivating aspects about their designs were added to the instrument. From the statistical tests, the results showed a significant difference on students’ IGO during marble-sorter and bridge design activities. Students’ intrinsic goal orientation was significantly higher on bridge design than marble-sorter design. Students who planned to major in engineering or technology education were more significantly motivated working on the two design activities than those who whose majors were in other areas. Students’ EGO did not appear to be correlated to their IGO, TV, SELP, and CB. Common themes associated with student motivation in the activities are presented in this report

Peer-Prompted Engineering Design: How Do Adolescents Interact and Strategize?

Engineering design was integrated into K–12 science education in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013), but teaching design remains a challenge for educators. Design problems are ill-defined, ill-structured, and complex problem-solving tasks. Their solutions require creativity and recursive, metacognitive processes that cannot be taught with simple algorithms. Moreover, adolescents do not demonstrate fully developed metacognitive skills because they are undergoing profound developmental changes. In this comparative case study, we explored how peer-delivered metacognitive prompts supported adolescents during a design challenge. We investigated how scripted prompts sparked reflection and stimulated design changes and identified which prompts were most effective. We also observed four interaction patterns between paired peers. The interaction patterns influenced the quantity of design changes and shaped the strategies that students used during revisions

Task Affect and Task Understanding in Engineering Problem Solving

Within the self-regulated learning literature, motivation is considered to be an essential feature of students’ self-regulatory processes. Additionally, task affect (i.e., personal objectives and task value) is thought to influence students’ self-regulatory processes; insufficient task affect may lead to failures to self-regulate effectively. In a school setting, task affect is a form of motivation for completing the course tasks in order to attain course-level goals that are inherently valued. In this study, motivation is operationalized as students’ personal objectives and task values, and self-regulation refers to students’ understanding of tasks (also called task interpretation skill) involved in a course. This study investigates changes in students’ task interpretation skill, personal objectives for learning, and task values, if any, while engaged in engineering problem-solving activities in a 2nd-year introductory thermodynamics course. This study also seeks to explore whether patterns exist between students’ task understanding, personal objectives for learning, and task value while engaged in problem-solving activities throughout the course. The findings suggest that, as the semester progressed, both students’ task value for the course and their focus on mastering the course material were continuously developed. Similarly, students’ explicit and implicit task interpretation skills also improved as they engaged in problem-solving activities. However, it was found that implicit task interpretation skill was not developed as fully as explicit task interpretation when solving a complex problem; students seemed to understand 64–77% of the explicit and 39–49% of the implicit information presented to them

Information Visualization of Metacognitive Skills During the Software Development Process Based on an Adapted Engineering Design Metacognitive Questionnaire

In software development, either alone or in a team, there are many aspects that determine the success in developing the software, including each developer\u27s skills. Studies show that the application of metacognition can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of software development. To measure a metacognition skill, there need to be a metacognition measurement tools. One example of this measurement method is adapted engineering design metacognitive questionnaire. However, the respondents feel that existing tools still have not given them any benefits. This research is conducted to develop an information visualization tools for the metacognition measurement from an adapted engineering design metacognitive questionnaire. The research was performed using qualitative method adapted from the user-centered design approach, which is user requirement analysis, design alternatives, prototyping, and evaluation. The finding suggests that with information visualization, the students as the respondents feel the benefits of filling the EDMQ questionnaire. However, from the design standpoint, there are still numerous things that can be improved to make the visualization more informative

The Role of Students\u27 Professional Experience in Online Learning: Analysis of Asynchronous Participation

This paper reports on a causal-comparative study that investigated potential differences in students\u27 participation in asynchronous online learning environments according to their professional experience. In the study, 893 messages from 77 students in an online master\u27s program in human resource development (HRD) at a large U.S. university were analyzed. The research shed light on an important component of online education by illuminating ways in which novices and experienced students tend to relate to each other, the instructor, and the content of specific topics. Findings show evidence of both novices and experienced students using this medium in a very similar way when dealing with asynchronous tools. Discussion and recommendations are presented