PassiveVLC: Enabling Practical Visible Light Backscatter ...
Enabling Visible and Effective Learning in Engineering
description
Transcript of Enabling Visible and Effective Learning in Engineering
Enabling Visible and Effective Learning in Engineering
Dr David Knight, Dr David Callaghan,A/Prof. Tom Baldock, A/Prof. Mehmet Kizil,
Prof. Erik Meyer, Dr Liza O’Moore
Teaching and Learning WeekFaculty of Science/EAIT Showcase
31 October 2012
Focus on Metalearning◦ Goal: Make learning behaviours visible for students so they can
take more ownership of their own learning success
Threshold Concepts◦ Goal: Identify the concepts within courses that students must
first understand so they can apply that knowledge to address more advanced, end-goal concepts of the course
Project Elements
Administered metalearning instrument in:◦ ENGG 1400 (n=169, class=423)◦MINE 2105 (twice) (n=97, class=143)◦ CIVL 3130 (n=138, class=277)◦ CIVL 3140 (twice) (n=204, class=276)
Collected written student reflections in:◦MINE 2105 (n=60)◦ CIVL 3140 (n=147)
Lesson: Tie the activity to some form of assessment
Metalearning Approach
Metalearning Activity
Course level◦ High variation in students’ approaches to learning◦ Saw consistencies across cohorts and across disciplines
Student level◦ 84% who wrote reflections found the activity useful
“It opened my eyes to how important it is to understand a topic rather than struggle with it and just memorise the topic to get by.”
“It has definitely shaped how I listen and take notes in class as well as how much repetition of course work I do in order to understand the content.”
Metalearning Findings
Lessons learned◦ Need a follow-up visit to class to explain interpretation◦ Students indicate the activity would serve them best if done in
Year 1 or early Year 2◦ Encourage academics to support learning strategies focused on
understanding rather than memorisation
Metalearning Next Steps
Threshold Concept ApproachAcademics
StudentsAssessments
Analysis of
Concepts in a
Course
Engage academic staff to identify threshold concepts◦ Two instructors of CIVL 3140◦ Develop concept maps
◦ Identified critical flow as a threshold concept
Threshold Concept Approach
Ask students to identify threshold concepts and report on how they learned◦ Student written reflections (n=147); Hour-long focus group ◦ Concept mapping activity
◦ Learned critical flow in many ways Variation between learning the concept versus preparing for assessment
◦ Students identified gradually varied flow, hydraulic jump, other/multiple flow types, math as being difficult to grasp More advanced forms of learning (e.g., linking back to previously
understood concepts) for gradually varied flow relative to other concepts
Threshold Concept Approach
Analysis of previous assessments◦ Completed for CIVL 3130 (n=253) and CIVL 3140 (n=225)
◦ Score distributions We expect a normal distribution of scores Bimodal or skewed distributions may suggest that a threshold
concept is embedded in a question (some students “get it” and others do not)
Threshold Concept Approach
Analysis of previous assessments
Threshold Concept Approach
Exam Total
Concepts:Critical FlowChannel ChokingRapidly Varied Flow
Concepts:Rapidly Varied FlowHydraulic jump
Analysis of previous assessments
◦Multiple choice responses Group these according to concepts Result from this: individual feedback on MC questions
Threshold Concept Approach
Analysis of previous assessments
Threshold Concept Approach
Momentum Energy
Physical Modelling
Channel Flow
Gradually Varied Flow
Inlet Control
Outlet Control Bridges
Total Exam Score
Analysis of previous assessments
Threshold Concept Approach
Gradually Varied Flow Bridges
Channel Flow
Channel Flow
Analysis of previous assessments
◦ Linked in-semester assessments to various concepts on the exam and adjusted accordingly
◦ Learning analytics: Performance on specific concepts could be used to predict performance on later assessments, and that information could be provided directly to students.
Threshold Concept Approach
Top-Down + Bottom-Up Approach
ACADEMICSThreshold Concepts
Curriculum–Assessment–Feedback
STUDENTSMetalearning
Metacognition
Improved Teaching and
Learning
Enabling Visible and Effective Learning in Engineering
Dr David Knight, Dr David Callaghan,A/Prof. Tom Baldock, A/Prof. Mehmet Kizil,
Dr Liza O’Moore, Prof. Erik Meyer
Teaching and Learning WeekFaculty of Science/EAIT Showcase
31 October 2012