Blended Learning Tools for Teaching and Training in Higher Order of Thinking Skills (HOTS) within Mechanical Engineering Education

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of three teaching and learning methodologies used for teaching Mechanical Engineering students which focus on the attainment of learning outcomes for three modules namely; Automotive, Manufacturing, and Engineering Maintenance. The investigated delivery methods are: teacher-centered mode, student-centered mode, and interactive mode. The role of the teacher spanned from full explanation in the teacher-centered mode, to being a facilitator in the student-centered mode. In the Interactive mode, the role of the teacher was to support the students when they worked with complex mechanical components and tools. Each group was exposed to one teaching and learning methodology for the above mentioned three modules with an aim to measure the effectiveness of each learning methodology on the basis of higher order cognitive skills (HOCS) and lower order cognitive skills (LOCS) of Bloom’s cognitive domain. The results showed that student-centred and interactive modes are the most appropriate teaching and learning methodologies as these have have positive effect on students’ performance. It has been found that both student-centered and interactive methods are effective in attaining Automotive, Manufacturing and Engineering Maintenance outcomes at Mechanical Engineering specialisation. Keywords: Students Performance, Teaching and Training, Theoretical Knowledge, Higher Order of Thinking Skills (HOTS), Blended learning tools (eResources), Mechanical Engineerin