Manish Malik

A two year case study: Technology Assisted Project Supervision (TAPaS)

Abstract During their final year undergraduate project a student may feel under-supported, stressed or isolated. In an internally funded project we set out to investigate the benefits of using a diverse blend of collaboration and communication tools alongside traditional methods of final year project supervision. We established separate formal and informal communication channels between the supervisor and their project students and a community of practice of students and supervisors was set up using twitter or a web forum. Using a wiki as a collaborative workspace and repository, student project pages were created and virtual supervision was blended with face-to-face supervision using electronic logs. At first some students were dubious about our approach and disapproved of at least one of the tools used. The supervisors were also initially sceptical of an increase in workload due to the multiplicity of tools used. In this paper we present how the staff and students benefited precisely because of the diverse range of tools used. The methods used resulted in transparency of students’ and supervisors’ actions, however, lessons were learnt about how to address student concerns about plagiarism in such an open environment.

Adjustment of tele-operator learning when provided with different levels of sensor support while driving mobile robots

A quantitative and qualitative empirical evaluation is presented to show the effect of providing some sensor support during driving lessons as a tele-operator learns to drive a mobile robot. Different levels of sensor support were provided and the effect on training was measured. Different levels of force feedback were provided through a joystick. Results are presented and conclusions drawn about the way that tele-operators behave during driving tasks.

Understanding the use of paper and online logbooks for final year undergraduate engineering projects

In industry an engineer is often required to keep a logbook for recording developments within projects. In higher education, logbooks are a commonly used tool thought to be one that encourages active independent learning and reflective thinking. In School of Engineering, at University of Portsmouth, paper and more recently online logbooks have been in use for recording work for final year projects and project based learning tasks. The work presented here benefits from a unique opportunity within the School of Engineering, where online logbooks alongside traditional paper based logbooks are being used within final year projects. A recent cohort of students (N=127) on ENG600 project module was given the option, through their Supervisors, to use paper logbooks and or online logbooks for recording their work. This work aims to investigate the use of both paper and online logbooks. A mix of Qualitative Research methods and quantitative techniques will be used in this project. The use of content analysis will provide an insight into student reflections and their motivations for using their logbook. Furthermore focus groups, involving live editing of documents in an individual and collaborative fashion, will be used to gather more data for analysis. Quantitative methods (questionnaire, analytics and quantitative content analysis) will also be used in this study. When this work is completed, it will provide guidance and comparison on using the two types of logbooks, backed by knowledge of student motivations and approaches.

Supporting exam revision via Google talk and Examopedia wiki

This work highlights the benefits of tapping into one of many informal learning activities in which students engage, namely use of past papers for exam revision. Exams can be both stressful and isolating for students. This paper presents a novel approach to exam revision via a ‘wiki’ and ‘Google talk’ which the author calls ‘Examopedia’. This approach benefits both from cooperative and constructivist learning. We show how students form an online community of practice around this informal learning activity providing peer-support for each other. It is well known that peer interactions, online or face to face, can encourage deep learning. Using Examopedia, students can prepare together for an exam. When using Examopedia on their own, students found conflicting answers a problem. However, the tutor used Examopedia with the students to give them timely guidance. Examopedia gives a new opportunity to facilitate revision through timely formative feedback and guidance. It also allows ‘Just in time’ teaching where needed. We find Examopedia to be a blend of teacher and student centric learning activities. We present analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data collected for two groups of students (N=38 and N=58) at Level M and Level 1 of their engineering degree.

Benefiting from electronically blurred boundaries between students and academics in problem based learning

This work highlights the difficulties faced by students and academics in constructivist approaches to Problem Based Learning. Here the learners are required to work in groups, which may occasionally have ‘free-riders’ or ‘passenger’ students. Spotting these ‘free-riders’ tends to be difficult, making fair assessment impossible. Using effective communication tutors can engage students better and avoid ‘free-rider’ behaviour. As shown here, this is best achieved through cognitive congruence. However, doing this in person is a resource intensive task. Instead e-logs were used as it helped identify ‘passenger’ students and provided individual contributions. Most students surveyed agreed that the e-logs afforded individual guidance. Also, as e-logs were weighted more than the group assignments, it motivated students to contribute to own and eventually group work. The author draws inspiration from the ancient Indian ‘Gurukul’ system of education. Also presented here, are the similarities and dissimilarities of the ‘Gurukul’ system with the constructivist approaches of today. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected and analysed for this study (N =40). We show how electronic tools blurred the boundaries, creating an e-Gurukul system to benefit students and academics alike. Finally, the e-Gurukul approach is evaluated for individual engagement, group participation and knowledge creation.