Education Commons^™

Interpreting Multi-Stage Teaching And Learning Initiatives For Mechanical Engineering Students - A Knowledge Management Perspective For Students, Kevin Delaney, Ger Nagle, Mingzhu Chen

Conference papers

Encouraging students to “think differently”, to “think like an engineer”, to “just solve the problem” is challenging and depends upon many factors such as the prior learning and experiences of the particular students involved. Sometimes it is difficult to convince students to really engage with activities outside their own comfort zones if they cannot see the potential benefits that might accrue through such engagement.

This paper describes a paradigm, inspired by knowledge management, which the authors have used to explain the importance of engaging with teaching and learning activities to undergraduate students. More importantly it helps these students to understand …

Online Resource Aiding Students To Practice And Perfect Manufacturing Based Skills, Robert Martin Morris, Frank Dunne, Maurice Collins

Conference papers

As part of our teaching in the Departments of Fabrication and Transport Engineering in the Technological University Dublin we use industrial metal folding machines to help students to learn the sequencing of folds on manufactured sheet metal components. Many students have difficulty visualising the folding sequences required to complete practical manufacturing assignments. This paper details the digital media resource which was developed to provide students with the opportunity to offer a proposed solution to questions which relate to the folding sequence required for these components. Feedback is provided through the medium of pre recorded videos which show the component being …

Rubric For Assessing Epistemological Understanding Of Students Who Are Learning Design., Shannon Chance

Conference papers

There is an extensive base of literature that attempts to describe how college students understand “knowledge” and their role in generating it. Educators draw from this literature to help students develop increasingly sophisticated ways of using knowledge. Although existing research aims for broad generalizability, it is clear that various disciplines have developed their own unique value systems. Scholars of “hard,” physical science are likely to hold very different ideas about the nature of “fact” and “inevitability” than those in the “softer,” social sciences [1]. Various disciplines conceptualize, use, and generate new knowledge in ways that differ dramatically, yet little research …

Exploring The Barriers To Independent Study And Learning In First Year Undergraduate Engineering Students?, Robert Martin Morris

Conference papers

This mixed method case study was carried out in the Technological University Dublin, Ireland and was conducted with the co-operation of four experienced lecturers of engineering and three groups of first year undergraduate engineering students.

The main aim of the research was to identify factors which represent barriers to the independent study and learning of first year engineering students.

Many first year engineering students do not return to college for the second year of their programmes. Many reasons for this are identified in the research, including the failure of students to pass assessments and exams as a result of the …

Formative Assessment Practices In Built Environment Higher Education Programmes And The Enhancement Of The Student Learning Experience, Lloyd Scott, Chrisopher Fortune

Conference papers

It is widely accepted across Higher Education (HE) that assessment has a strong link with learning and a key factor in this link is formative assessment. Formative assessment is generally defined as an activity taking place during a programme or unit of learning with the express purpose of improving and enhancing student learning. However, there is still considerable disagreement over the roles of lecturers and students in this process. It is therefore very important to understand how lecturers in built environment (BE) undergraduate education perceive their own roles and the role of their students in using assessment strategy to deliver …