Education Commons^™

An Integrated Approach To The Teaching Of Numerical Methods To Engineering Students, Garrett Keane, Michael Carr, Patrick Carroll

Conference papers

In Technological University Dublin, historically, numerical methods were taught to engineering students using a format of traditional mathematics lectures, to a large class group consisting of students from five different engineering disciplines, complemented by small class tutorials. Assessment was by a single, written exam only.

In order to improve the overall effectiveness of the students’ learning experience, it was deemed beneficial to also introduce practical computing classes in which the students would be required to apply the general mathematical methods covered in lectures to discipline-specific examples.

Three different practical computing assignments were devised for the students to undertake, and 20% …

Changing Training Needs Arising From The Introduction Of Off-Site Construction Techniques, Louis Gunnigan, John Mcdonagh

Conference papers

The objective of this paper is to examine the changes in training needs arising from the increase of off-site construction in the Republic of Ireland. The methodology employed was a case study using a participant observation research technique. For a period of three weeks, the researcher observed the construction of residential housing, constructed using off-site techniques. From the practices observed and from interviews with the operatives on-site, an account of the differences in skills required between those employed in traditional construction and off-site construction was compiled. Each of the different trades involved in traditional construction was addressed and a comprehensive …

Enhancing Learning On A First Year Engineering Programme With A Student Design Project, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This contribution reports on, and evaluates, the use of a design project for enhancing student learning on a first year module in electrical engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology. The project objective, as outlined to the students, was to design and build a, possibly innovative, everyday device that can generate electricity from sources of “free energy”, so as to encourage first year engineering students to use their natural design creativity in a freeform, brainstorming manner. The project allows students to further develop their academic interests, assists student retention and facilitates student interaction, among other advantages. The work encourages students to …

Learning Styles Of First Year Level 7 Electrical And Mechanical Engineering Students At Dit, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This paper investigates the learning styles of first year, Level 7, mechanical and electrical engineering students at DIT, using the index of learning styles survey as developed by Felder and Soloman [1]. Student learning styles on these programmes are compared with the results from other such surveys. The correlation between student performance and their individual learning styles is examined in outline. Knowledge of the strongly visual learning style of these cohorts of students may be used to improve the learning environment.

Teaching And Assessment Of Students Taking A First Year, Level 7 Subject: Analysis And Actions, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This contribution critically analyses the teaching and assessment strategies used on the core Electrical Systems subject in the first year of a three-year, Level 7, degree programme in Electrical Engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology. The author has the responsibility for development and instruction in the subject since 2004. In the 2004-5 and 2005-6 academic years, the didactic teaching approach and the assessment strategy ensured good educational outcomes. This was not the case in the 2006-7 academic year. The contribution will analyse the reasons for this, taking an evidence-based approach (i.e. analysing the assessment data in detail). Two conclusions that …

Using Student Presentations For Learning And Assessment: Some Experiences, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This contribution reports on, reflects on and evaluates the author’s experiences, over a number of academic years, of using formal student presentations as a means of learning and assessment in a taught postgraduate programme in engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology. Students were asked to prepare PowerPoint presentations on individual engineering topics; relevant references in books and technical papers were provided as assistance. Peer assessment of the presentations was employed, following a structured guideline agreed with the students. The contribution discusses the peer assessment experience in detail, including formal student feedback on the process. Some analysis work suggests that there …