Roger Hadgraft

Student Reactions to a Problem-based, Fourth-year Computing Elective in Civil Engineering

SUMMARY Following a significant course review in civil engineering at Monash University, a fourth-year computing elective was introduced in 1995. The author developed the subject as a project-based one, the aim being to allow students to pursue their own computing interests. This paper describes how the subject was run, and documented the student responses. The subject is a good example of student-directed learning, and the enthusiasm and energy which flow from students having ownership of their learning. It also shows how a subject can use a wide range of learning resources, including the Internet, to provide positive outcomes for the department as well as the students. Improvements for the future are included.

Experiences of Two Problem-oriented Courses in Civil Engineering

SUMMARY Current engineering courses are not structured to develop real problem-solving skills in their students. They rely on a bottom-up approach to learning, where the first three years is spend mostly on theory, with almost no practice at problem definition. Instead, the students spend most of their time solving carefully designed exercises. Real-world problems are not as neatly packaged as these exercises, and, as a consequence, graduate engineers often lack the problem-definition and problem-recognition skills that are essential if the theory they have learned is to be useful to them. On the contrary, a problem-oriented course requires the students to develop those problem recognition skills. It also is intended to develop student-directed learning, and group and communication skills. A problem-oriented approach was used in 1991 in two second-year courses in civil engineering—surveying and computing. The courses were well received by the students, and the average exam result for surveying showed a no...

An Application of ‘Jigsaw Learning’ to Teaching Infrastructure Model Development

SUMMARY Skills in group communication, development of problem definition and coordination of activities are essential in modern day multi-disciplinary engineering. The development of these skills requires more than just being told they exist and how the students should acquire them. Students must be exposed to these situations and taught how to handle them. This paper presents a study of a teaching technique that would encourage the development of communication skills between students: ‘jigsaw learning’. The approach consists of dividing students solving a particular problem into a number of groups. A student is first placed into an overall model development group to specify the problem to be solved. Second, he/she works in the component group to create a particular model component. Finally, once the component is developed the student moves back to the original model development group and incorporates the specific component into the overall model. In order to do this successfully, students must communicat...

What is Feedback? Connecting Student Perceptions to Assessment Practices

This paper reports outcomes from an international study examining student perceptions of feedback. Recent work by Grahame Gibbs identifies linkages between current and subsequent course activities as a critical factor in whether students value the feedback they receive. We have investigated the frequency and nature of feedback given to students in two large introductory course settings in engineering and computing in Australia and Sweden and contrasted this with student perceptions of the quality of feedback they received. Data analysed includes audits of levels of verbal and written feedback on assignment work returned to students, and an exploration of student attitudes to feedback in the context of the questions asked in course evaluation questionnaires. Drawing on the work of Gibbs on feedback, and Biggs on constructive alignment we propose four principles for achieving student relevant course feedback. The paper uses these principles as a framework with which to deconstruct and analyse the feedback processes and learning activities of the 2012 versions of the two target courses. The analysis demonstrates that several key principles have been violated. We also discuss how new learning activities could be designed and evaluated to address the concerns we have identified. The results highlight the contextual nature of how feedback is perceived and valued by learners. This provides useful practical guidelines to academics wishing to optimise the value of feedback to students, and minimise wasted effort associated with giving types of feedback that have little value for learners, and which consequently often remain unread.

Self-guided field trips for students of environments

In many learning institutions around the world, there is a trend towards larger classes, more flexible learning pathways and reduced teaching resources. Experiential learning is often used in the form of site visits or field trips for students studying engineering, natural resource management, geography and similar disciplines. Providing opportunities for students to undertake field trips without the traditional support mechanism is one of the more challenging issues for subject designers. How can large cohorts of students gain practical exposure to various aspects of the natural or built environment? Although this is typically done using traditional site visits and fieldwork with a high staff/student ratio, the goal has been to use action research to design and develop resources to enable small groups (three or four) to make self-guided visits to sites close to campus. Multimedia resources to examine and interpret aspects of the site that relate to their on-campus learning guide the students. One critical issue in the success of these activities has been proper risk assessment and control procedures. The outcome of this research is a framework to provide a safe, active learning experience by way of self-guided field trips that is suitable for implementation with large classes.

Addressing interdisciplinary process engineering design, construction and operations through 4D virtual environments

Abstract An interactive and immersive learning environment that will allow students to explore the design, construction, commissioning and operation stages of processing facilities is being developed. The learning environment makes use of a series spherical images captured across not only the facility site but also across the construction and operation period that allow students to investigate the design evolution of a particular spatial area through time by moving up and down in the time frame. It is intended to allow students to learn how engineers from a range of disciplines work together on key issues and decisions required for that part of the design. Interviews with key engineering personnel and project stakeholders will permit the students to explore the reasoning behind critical design decisions. Four learning environments are being developed and include the construction of a bulk liquid storage facility in Brisbane, a sewage treatment facility in Melbourne, a weighbridge at a truck service centre in Melbourne and the demolition of an engineering building in Brisbane followed by the construction of a new “live” building. This paper explores how it is envisaged that the learning environments will be implemented and how they will be used in practice in the class room.

Influences on Student Learning in Engineering: Some Results from Case Study Fieldwork

Abstract This paper closely examines factors affecting students’ progression in their engineering programs through fieldwork conducted at three Australian universities. To extract clues on how specific teaching methods can be used to maximise learning, the investigation considered factors such as understanding how students take in, process and present information. A number of focus groups were conducted with students, and the data gathered was combined with survey results of students’ and academics’ learning styles. The paper reports on the process followed and provides some analysis of the gathered data, as part of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Associate Fellowship program.

Exploring Synergies between Learning and Teaching in Engineering: A Case Study Approach

Abstract Understanding how we take in, process and present information as part of the learning process, provides clues on how specific teaching methods can be utilised to maximise learning. The literature suggests that a mismatch between learning styles or preferences and teaching styles and approaches may present a barrier to learning and contribute to attrition. This paper presents some early findings of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Associate Fellowship program, involving three universities, which uses a case study approach to explore the interactions between students’ learning styles on the one hand, and lecturers’ teaching styles, goals and philosophies, on the other. The paper also initiates discussions on how teaching approaches may be tailored to address the diversity of students’ learning styles over the duration of the engineering program, to enhance their learning experience and outcomes.

Designing the Future

Abstract While there have been improvements in Australian engineering education since the 1990s, there are still strong concerns that more progress needs to be made, particularly in the areas of developing graduate competencies and in outcomes-based curricula. This paper comments on the findings from a two-day Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded forum that sought to establish a shared understanding with the thee stakeholders (students, academics and industry) about how to achieve a design-based engineering curriculum. This paper reports on the findings from the first day’s activities, and reveals that there is a shared desire for design and project-based curricula that would encourage the development of the “three-dimensional” graduate: one who has technical, personal, and professional and systems-thinking/design-based competence. In addition, the data also reveal industry willingness to engage in the engineering curriculum to enhance authentic learning experiences.

Problem-based Approach to a Civil Engineering Education

SUMMARY Problem-based learning (PBL) is seen as a way of developing a rounded engineer, one who excels not only in technical accomplishments, but also in communication, teamwork, leadership, innovation and initiative. PBL develops all these skills through a process of problem solving in a resource-rich environment explored by teams of students. This paper shows how a PBL approach can be applied in the development of a new civil engineering course. It does this on a broad scale (looking at the sequence of subjects required in the degree), and on a smaller scale, to show how individual subjects could be implemented.