As mentioned in the previous blog entry, the philosophy behind this Engineering Science course that I am developing is that it is intended to be used purely as an introduction to the basic engineering concepts, units and formulas that first year students studying in the diploma programme(s) will come across in various semester one subjects.
At present, all the learning activities that I do with my students are based around face to face delivery. This introductory course will have no face to face input at all. it is intended to be purely an informative course that the students can do in their own time, at their own pace, on the computer. There will be self directed tests, quizzes etc embedded within the course for student feedback and evaluation.
What learning activities I believe will work for this course will be voice over power point presentations that will be arranged into the various sections or topics making up the course. I will be using Ispring to convert the power points into flash files. In addition to these, some of my notes will be typed into word documents for extra information when required. These will then be made into web pages using eXe and it is intended to have hyperlinks embedded within these pages for additional information and enjoyment for the students. Linking to "virtual experimental" sites could be one such option. Moodle will be the delivery platform for this material.
The self directed tests, quizzes etc that are in this course will be made up with the eXe design tools that are available within that package. These self directed tests will keep the students interested and will provide instant feedback on their learning.
What would not work for this course is the old style of "distance learning" material involving a pile of photocopied notes and telling the students to read up about the various topics. Also, the ability at receiving instant feedback is not available with this form of delivery. Yes, the students could come and ask me questions, but if this was done individually, it would take up a lot of my time and resources, so consequently, not very productive.
Blended delivery would be nice, but as stated, since no teaching hours are going to be allocated for this course, it is not an option. This also applies to the use of Elluminate, although upon saying that, maybe one session of 2 hours at a convenient time for everyone could be arranged as a means of answering any pointed questions that may have arisen from the course content. This could also be a face to face session or both if the need exists.
From my last blog entry, I outlined the intended learning objectives for this course, so I don't need to repeat myself here. Elaborating a bit more on the resources that I think I need for this course, since my last blog entry, I have had some training on using eXe to the point where I can start experimenting with this package so that's a start. My last blog entry showed that I can hyperlink to youtube and such like so that's fine. I still need training with power points and using audacity for the voice over component but that should not be too much of a problem. Typing up my notes into word documents is going to be a drag, but it has to be done sometime. The trouble is when and by whom?
Time is going to be spent surfing the net for those "additional information sites" I mentioned before but I believe these will be well worth it as a means to keep the interest level up for the students.
Taping conversations and making videos are skills worth having, and I know training can be provided for them, but I feel they will not be needed for this course delivery. maybe a future one that I will develop will utilise these resources.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Development of an Engineering Science course
This posting will be my record for the ideas surrounding the practicalities of the proposed design of the Engineering Science course I am developing. It is also assignment 3 of the assessment requirements for the Constructing Courses to Enhance Learning course I am currently studying at the Otago Polytechnic.
I believe there is a need for this introductory course because the level of learning and understanding of basic mechanical concepts and principles are some what lacking for the average student enrolling in the level 6 "Diploma in Mechanical Engineering."
Currently, the majority of students enrolling in the diploma are school levers with a minimum entry requirement of 12 credits in maths level 2 (calculus and algebra major) with ideally additional credits in physics and / or chemistry or graphics. They are predominately male (95%) and a resent survey on preferred learning styles (VARK test) indicated that the majority preferred the reader / writer learning style with a close second to the kinesthetic style. Visual was a clear last.
I must admit the preferred learning style that I use in my teaching is the read / write one and I am sure that this is because this was the way how I was taught, or maybe, it is just the way how engineer's think ; as Terry said "we engineers are a strange lot". Anyway, the result of the vark test proves to me that my current face to face practice is fine and since the majority of the diploma assessments are based around closed book examinations, this style is well suited for them. The kinesthetic learners are catered for with the laboratory sessions that make up part of the face to face sessions, but this course I am developing will be based around a self paced computer centred learning environment which will hopefully help with the underpinning knowledge the students will need for future courses within the diploma. So what works and what doesn't?
The other day I used the overhead projector to present to the students some past exam questions which involved calculations and I instructed them to use their notes but do their own work. We then went over them as a class group. I believe this worked well for reinforcing things they should know and presenting new information to them when required. Even though it was open book it gave the students practice at using the formula sheet and testing them in semi-exam conditions (as a group, they like to chat amongst themselves and bounce ideas around with each other).
This style of learning could quite easily be done on elluminate as it needs to be in "real time" for the students to get the necessary feed back. Come to think of it, I could use this form of delivery for any course I teach when having a devoted "problem-solving time" session with the students.
I mentioned before that the kinesthetic learning style ranked quite highly from the VARK test, and this is why the laboratories are regarded as an extremely important learning environment. Giving the students the opportunity to be in charge of the experiments and consequently their own learning is very beneficial in terms of theory reinforcement; putting into practice what has been learnt in class, as well as aiding in understanding of concepts. These must still be done face to face due to the nature of the assessment; ie. use is made of expensive laboratory equipment and the experiments are treated as group activities where the students learn from each other. On saying that, the Engineering Science course will not have any laboratories in it because I want this course to be assessable by distance, at the student's own pace. The course that I am proposing is an introduction only and is not going to be formally assessed. I intend to have self directed tests embedded within the finished product as well as links to various sites for added information as and when required. eg. if I was explaining about hydraulics I could get the students to click on various youtube presentations like so
I will need training on using the eXe package and it's application into the Moodle site along with voice over power point presentations etc but these should be pretty straight forward (I hope!). Also possible help with typing my lovely old handwritten notes into word would not go astray and I can recall a prominent member of the EDC team telling me that there is funding set aside for such issues.
I envisage the students will access this course within the first two weeks upon starting the diploma programme or beforehand once full fees are paid.
Now to the learning outcomes. These will be closely linked with one of the learning outcomes each from Engineering Mechanics A and Thermodynamics, these being;
i) Demonstrate an understanding of SI units, fundamental, supplementary & derived units, concept of mass, force, moments, torque and equilibrium condition.
ii) Demonstrate awareness of the range of methods for temperature and pressure measurement and their fields of use.
Both of these learning outcomes can be achieved by students completing the self directed tests that will be embedded within the course. Other components of learning outcomes from various courses will be added to compliment the underpinning knowledge that this course should bring. ie
iii) Demonstrate understanding of the need for stability
iv) Show an understanding of Hooke's Law, modulus of elasticity, modulus of rigidity, yield stress, UTS, tensile, compressive and shear stresses and strains, working stress and FOS.
Again, all these principles and concepts can be assessed by the same method as before, with added information and self direction being available by way of the internet. eg wikipedia, youtube etc.
I believe there is a need for this introductory course because the level of learning and understanding of basic mechanical concepts and principles are some what lacking for the average student enrolling in the level 6 "Diploma in Mechanical Engineering."
Currently, the majority of students enrolling in the diploma are school levers with a minimum entry requirement of 12 credits in maths level 2 (calculus and algebra major) with ideally additional credits in physics and / or chemistry or graphics. They are predominately male (95%) and a resent survey on preferred learning styles (VARK test) indicated that the majority preferred the reader / writer learning style with a close second to the kinesthetic style. Visual was a clear last.
I must admit the preferred learning style that I use in my teaching is the read / write one and I am sure that this is because this was the way how I was taught, or maybe, it is just the way how engineer's think ; as Terry said "we engineers are a strange lot". Anyway, the result of the vark test proves to me that my current face to face practice is fine and since the majority of the diploma assessments are based around closed book examinations, this style is well suited for them. The kinesthetic learners are catered for with the laboratory sessions that make up part of the face to face sessions, but this course I am developing will be based around a self paced computer centred learning environment which will hopefully help with the underpinning knowledge the students will need for future courses within the diploma. So what works and what doesn't?
The other day I used the overhead projector to present to the students some past exam questions which involved calculations and I instructed them to use their notes but do their own work. We then went over them as a class group. I believe this worked well for reinforcing things they should know and presenting new information to them when required. Even though it was open book it gave the students practice at using the formula sheet and testing them in semi-exam conditions (as a group, they like to chat amongst themselves and bounce ideas around with each other).
This style of learning could quite easily be done on elluminate as it needs to be in "real time" for the students to get the necessary feed back. Come to think of it, I could use this form of delivery for any course I teach when having a devoted "problem-solving time" session with the students.
I mentioned before that the kinesthetic learning style ranked quite highly from the VARK test, and this is why the laboratories are regarded as an extremely important learning environment. Giving the students the opportunity to be in charge of the experiments and consequently their own learning is very beneficial in terms of theory reinforcement; putting into practice what has been learnt in class, as well as aiding in understanding of concepts. These must still be done face to face due to the nature of the assessment; ie. use is made of expensive laboratory equipment and the experiments are treated as group activities where the students learn from each other. On saying that, the Engineering Science course will not have any laboratories in it because I want this course to be assessable by distance, at the student's own pace. The course that I am proposing is an introduction only and is not going to be formally assessed. I intend to have self directed tests embedded within the finished product as well as links to various sites for added information as and when required. eg. if I was explaining about hydraulics I could get the students to click on various youtube presentations like so
I will need training on using the eXe package and it's application into the Moodle site along with voice over power point presentations etc but these should be pretty straight forward (I hope!). Also possible help with typing my lovely old handwritten notes into word would not go astray and I can recall a prominent member of the EDC team telling me that there is funding set aside for such issues.
I envisage the students will access this course within the first two weeks upon starting the diploma programme or beforehand once full fees are paid.
Now to the learning outcomes. These will be closely linked with one of the learning outcomes each from Engineering Mechanics A and Thermodynamics, these being;
i) Demonstrate an understanding of SI units, fundamental, supplementary & derived units, concept of mass, force, moments, torque and equilibrium condition.
ii) Demonstrate awareness of the range of methods for temperature and pressure measurement and their fields of use.
Both of these learning outcomes can be achieved by students completing the self directed tests that will be embedded within the course. Other components of learning outcomes from various courses will be added to compliment the underpinning knowledge that this course should bring. ie
iii) Demonstrate understanding of the need for stability
iv) Show an understanding of Hooke's Law, modulus of elasticity, modulus of rigidity, yield stress, UTS, tensile, compressive and shear stresses and strains, working stress and FOS.
Again, all these principles and concepts can be assessed by the same method as before, with added information and self direction being available by way of the internet. eg wikipedia, youtube etc.
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