Teaching power engineering basics using advanced web technologies and problem-based learning environment

This paper describes the experience of teaching power systems basics to undergraduate engineering students using a pedagogical approach that is based upon computer-mediated and problem-based learning in an integrated way. In this approach, an interactive learning environment based on web technologies replaces the traditional lectures. The pedagogical project behind this approach is focused on the problem-based learning paradigm, where the students are instigated to construct the knowledge required to solve the problem (constructivist learning). The paper addresses the technological aspects, such as how to create simulators using Java applets and animation, as well as the pedagogical aspects, such as student performance and knowledge acquisition. The experience of using this approach at the State University of Campinas, Brazil, during the years 2001/2002 is described in detail. Advantages and disadvantages of this approach are also addressed and finally the students point of view are presented based on surveys.     

Teaching the Art of Fault Diagnosis in Electronics by a Virtual Learning Environment

A virtual learning environment (VLE) to improve understanding of simple faul tfinding was created from a series of Web pages, an online quiz with automated marking, and a local-area-network-based simulator. It was tested on 57 first-year students (in 2002) and 69 students in 2003, taking a module in engineering design in electrical engineering in which a battery charger was designed and constructed. The results indicate that there was better than 100% improvement in the number of working battery chargers in both tested years. In addition, the students who used the VLE produced more working chargers and were better able to identify circuit blocks than those that did not. The learning approach is described by the adaptive character of thought cited in the present paper.     

Problem-based learning as an effective tool for teaching computer network design

This paper addresses the challenge of developing techniques for the effective teaching of computer network design. It reports on the experience of using the technique of problem-based learning as a key pedagogical method for teaching practical network design within the context of a Master's program module in data telecommunications and networks at the University of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, U.K. A two-threaded approach was adopted that comprised a problem-based learning thread and a conventional lecture thread. The problem-based learning thread within the module comprised sessions designed to place the students in the position of network design consultants who are introduced to scenarios that have a high degree of realism in which a client has specific business requirements that can be met through the adoption of a network solution. In this way, the problem-based learning thread allows the students to develop their design skills, while the lecture thread uses traditional teaching methods to allow students to develop their understanding of key network components and architectures. A formal evaluation of this approach has been carried out and demonstrated a very effective and realistic learning experience for the students. Therefore, the authors propose that problem-based learning is an ideal pedagogical tool for the teaching of computer network design.     

An assessment of on-line engineering design problem presentationstrategies

This paper describes the assessment of three on-line learning modules in engineering design for first-year students developed at Columbia University. The assessment includes results from more than 200 students who used test and control versions of each module during the 1996-1997 academic year. The goal of the assessment was to identify presentation formats and strategies for on-line engineering design problems that improved student performance on the design problem or on a short paper and pencil follow-up quiz taken immediately after module use. Students nearly unanimously preferred modules that incorporated animation and interactive design tools over those with static snapshots of the same material. Interactive design tools also improved performance on the design problems. However, performance on the follow-up quizzes did not vary among student cohorts regardless of presentation format. Similarly, although students generally enjoyed and valued group work activities, and although these experiences frequently increased students' confidence in their answers, follow-up quiz performance was not enhanced by group work activities. In an unanticipated result, students were twice as likely to sketch their answers when the module itself contained animated illustrations rather than static graphic material. This result suggests that computer-based learning tools can significantly affect the character and texture of students' representation of their own ideas in manners that do not emerge from traditional performance measures     

Information technology enhanced learning in distance andconventional education

The rapid growth of the Internet and the media-rich extensions of the World Wide Web allow new developments in the way instructors transfer knowledge to their students. There is no doubt that nothing will replace synchronous learning through face to face interaction but it is sometimes not feasible for students to attend conventional classes due to distance or time constraints. This paper presents a model for using information technology to enhance the learning experience for conventional on-campus students, as well as for those students whose circumstances require that they be asynchronous in time or space. The approach described emphasizes a solution which allows students to attend the class in real time via the Internet, or to access asynchronously digitally stored video material with hyperlinks to online training resources at any time. The proposed solution permits interaction in real-time and asynchronously among students and between students and instructor, which is a key for effective learning. In addition, the instructor maintains a significant level of spontaneity in using multimedia material prepared in advance or using conventional chalkboard or hand written materials via traditional overhead projection. The paper describes the technical issues involved and the chosen solutions to provide enhanced live and archived classes. This paper provides some comments on the evaluation of the learning experience using this method of delivery for on-campus and distance education students. Finally the authors share their vision on future trends to improve the proposed learning environment and the need for an optimal balance between expositive teaching and active learning for both synchronous and asynchronous activities     

A Blended Learning Approach to Course Design and Implementation

Blended learning has become an increasingly popular form of e-learning, and is particularly suitable to the process of transitioning towards e-learning from traditional forms of learning and teaching. This paper describes the use of the blended e-learning model, which is based on a mixture of collaborative learning, problem-based learning (PBL) and independent learning, in a course “Teaching Methods in Information Science,” given at the University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia. This model is realized as a combination of a face-to-face environment and online learning, using a proprietary learning management system (LMS) named adaptive hypermedia courseware (AHyCo). AHyCo is based on adaptive hypermedia and in addition to supporting learning and testing, introduces completely new constructivist and cognitivist elements to education. By supporting collaborative and project-oriented activities AHyCo promotes students' motivation for learning and establishes learning as an active and interactive process. This paper describes both the technology for, and the methodological approach to, course design and development which is aimed at supporting the evolution from traditional teaching to active learning, and raising interest in the topics of e-learning and Web courseware development among IT students. A survey conducted in the end of the course showed that students were satisfied with the pedagogical approach, and their academic achievements were also better than expected. Particularly important is that the dropout rate was greatly diminished, which could be related to students' satisfaction with the support they received from the instructor and the system.      

Self-assessment in a feasible, adaptive web-based testing system

Adaptive testing systems generate tests for assessment that are tailored to each student. In these tests, students are assessed through a process that uses Item Response Theory (IRT), a well-founded psychometric theory. This theory is responsible for estimating student knowledge, determining the next question that must be posed at each moment, and deciding test finalization. System of Intelligent Evaluation Using Tests for Teleeducation (SIETTE) is a Web-based environment for generating and constructing adaptive tests. In SIETTE, teachers can create tests for self-assessment. In this kind of test, questions are posed one by one, and the correction of each question is shown immediately after the student's answer. Along with this correction, and in terms of the student's answer, feedback is provided. Feedback consists of pieces of knowledge that help students detect misconceptions or reinforce concepts correctly learned. Furthermore, hints can be included when questions are posed to supply students with some kind of help or explanation about the stem. As a result, this kind of test can be used not just for assessment, but also for instructional purposes. The first goal of this paper is to show how SIETTE can be used for instructional purposes, by combining adaptive student self-assessment test questions with feedback and hints. This paper also shows that the Web is a feasible platform for the generation of adaptive tests, supporting the use of SIETTE for this purpose.     

Fuzzy set approach to the assessment of student-centered learning

Assessment of student learning is an important task in a teaching and learning process. It has a strong influence on students' approaches to learning and their outcomes. Development in tertiary education has shifted its emphasis from teacher-centered learning to student-centered learning. In a student-centered learning environment, criterion-referenced assessment techniques are often used in current education research and practice. However, it sometimes happens that the assessment criteria and their corresponding weights are solely determined by the lecturers in charge. This may reduce the interest of students' participation and lower the quality of their learning. This paper presents an integrated fuzzy set approach to assess the outcomes of student-centered learning. It uses fuzzy set principles to represent the imprecise concepts for subjective judgment and applies a fuzzy set method to determine the assessment criteria and their corresponding weights. Based on the commonly agreed assessment criteria, students' learning outcomes are evaluated on a fuzzy grade scale. The proposed fuzzy set approach incorporates students' opinions into assessment and allows them to have a better understanding on the assessment criteria. It aims at encouraging students to participate in the whole learning process and providing an open and fair environment for assessment     

The RoboCup Nanogram League: An Opportunity for Problem-Based Undergraduate Education in Microsystems

A problem-based learning approach was chosen for a new senior elective in microsystems. The problem posed to the students was to design microrobots suitable for the new “nanogram league” of the international RoboCup competition, which challenges teams of students and researchers to construct microscopic untethered robots that will compete against each other in soccer-related agility drills on a 2.5 mm by 2.5 mm playing field. The approach was shown to increase student interest and motivation. The course was considered a success and will be repeated with some modifications to increase the breadth of the course coverage.      

E-Portfolios for Developing Transferable Skills in a Freshman Engineering Course

Reflective thinking and learning skills are essential for engineers in the knowledge economy. This paper describes an approach to develop these and other transferable skills through individual and collaborative reflective learning using open-source software. The learning activities and an open-source e-portfolio system called Dotfolio were tested by freshman engineering students. Findings from a survey-based study, which investigated students' beliefs about reflective learning and their expectations and experiences related to the task and open-source tool, are reported. From the beginning of the semester the students understood the significance of reflective learning and chose to work with the tool. However, they were less positive about the collaboration with peers during this activity. At the end of the semester, students were significantly more positive about the tool, but even more negative about the collaboration. The main problems encountered by the tutors and learners were plagiarism and a tension between the privacy of students' reflections and knowledge sharing. The open-source modular architecture allowed for the use of student and tutor feedback for the addition of new features that addressed their concerns.     

Web-based peer review: the learner as both adapter and reviewer

This study describes an effective web-based learning strategy, peer review, used by 143 computer science undergraduate students in an operating systems class at a Taiwanese university. Peer review, based on social constructivism, can be easily implemented via the authors' well-developed web-based peer review (WPR) system. Through peer review, the authors hope to form an authentic learning environment similar to an academic society in which a researcher submits a paper to a journal and receives reviews from society members before publication. Students using this learning strategy are expected to develop higher level thinking skills. The WPR system functioned in the following roles in this study: (1) an information distribution channel and management center for assignment submissions and peer review; (2) a forum for peer interaction and knowledge construction; and (3) storage for knowledge construction procedures. An evaluation of learning effects and students' perceptions about peer review during the spring of 1998 revealed that students not only performed better under peer review, but also displayed higher level thinking skills, i.e., critical thinking, planning, monitoring, and regulation. Students perceived peer review as an effective strategy that promoted their learning motivation. However, merely being an effective reviewer or an effective author may not excel in a peer review environment. The most effective individual appears to be the strategic adapter who effectively constructs a project, adjusts to peers' comments, and serves as a critical reviewer as well     

An undergraduate microcontroller systems laboratory

This paper discusses a course in microcontroller system design which was revised to facilitate improved student learning outcomes. The course aimed to develop design and technical skills, as well as communication and team management skills. A problem based learning (PBL) approach was taken, and the focus of the course was on the laboratory where the students worked on a major design project. Hardware was developed for the laboratory using the Motorola 68HC11 microcontroller which enabled the students to undertake a range of design activities. The students formed groups and were assigned a realistic design project to undertake over a semester. Evaluation of this course was obtained from students, staff and an external reviewer, and the results show that the revised course achieved its educational objectives     

An Assessment of a Self-Directed Learning Approach in a Graduate Web Application Design and Development Course

Research has shown that adult learners have a strong desire for a self-directed and autonomous learning experience. This paper presents an evaluation of an approach to supporting self-directed learning employed in a graduate-level Web application design and development course. The approach allows students to define and develop semester-long team projects in an independent fashion including the definition of their own grading metric and the evaluation of themselves against the measure. This paper presents the results of a survey on student opinion of the self-directed learning approach and an evaluation of grades. Study results indicate that the self-directed learning approach used in the course was quite successful in providing adult students with an autonomous and self-directed learning experience     

Scenario assignments as assessment tools for undergraduateengineering education

A challenge many faculty face is finding effective qualitative tools to assess students' skills and knowledge of practices. This paper describes how one such tool, the scenario assignment, was used in an upper division Mechanical Engineering course at the University of California at Berkeley. The scenario assignment is a qualitative performance assessment tool designed to assess students' knowledge of engineering practices, framework, and problem solving. An analytic rubric was developed to assess students' knowledge with respect to the learning outcomes associated with the scenario tool. Students were given a scenario that describes a “day in the life” problem faced by engineers. They were then asked to describe a process they would use to solve the problem. Careful testing of the rubric and training of the scorers revealed that the scores reliably differentiated among student abilities. Two sample student responses to the battery scenario are presented and discussed. Initial findings suggest that use of the scenarios can help faculty to quickly identify students' strengths and weaknesses and adapt their course to address the areas where students need attention     

Enhancing student learning through hypermedia courseware andincorporation of student learning styles

This paper outlines attempts to enhance student learning by addressing different learning styles through course hypermedia. Students learn by a variety of different learning styles. Previously, instructors were unable to effectively address these different learning styles outside the classroom. Two approaches were developed to address this problem. The first approach was the development of hypermedia courseware. This provided a wide variety of tools which students could use to prepare for lessons. In this way students retained complete control over how they prepared for a lesson and could choose those hypermedia tools that were most conducive to their learning. An assessment of the multimedia and hypertext documents in the course revealed that the value of a particular multimedia tool to a student varied widely. Each student was traversing the course material according to his/her unique learning style. Unfortunately, the plethora of tools confused some students because they were uncomfortable making active choices of what course material would be most conducive to their learning. As a result, a second approach was adopted. An adaptive hypermedia interface was developed that provided dynamic tailoring of the presentation of course material based on the individual student's learning style. By tailoring the presentation of material to the student's learning style, the authors believe students learned more efficiently and more effectively     

BioLab: An Educational Tool for Signal Processing Training in Biomedical Engineering

This paper introduces and evaluates BioLab, a tool for teaching biosignal processing. BioLab has been used in the biomedical engineering module that is given in the second semester of the fifth year of the electronic engineering degree at the University of Valencia, Spain. This module and its correspondent curricular pathway are also reviewed. BioLab allows the results obtained with digital processing techniques to be shown interactively in the theory classes, and it also provides support in laboratory sessions. The graphic interface of BioLab simplifies its learning and use and provides access to processing and visualization functions by means of menus. The tool is based on Matlab since the students have had previous experience in this environment. BioLab also supports diverse formats of data files, which facilitate access to real records and their conversion to usable formats. The modular structure of BioLab allows it to be easily extended to other educational materials that are related to signal processing and to research applications. An evaluation of BioLab has revealed that students found it useful for understanding the general concepts of digital processing and biosignal processing in particular. The students also found BioLab very easy to learn and use     

Implementing CS1 with embedded instructional research design in laboratories

Closed laboratories are becoming an increasingly popular approach to teaching introductory computer science courses. Unlike open laboratories that tend to be an informal environment provided for students to practice their skills with attendance optional, closed laboratories are structured meeting times that support the lecture component of the course, and attendance is required. This paper reports on an integrated approach to designing, implementing, and assessing laboratories with an embedded instructional research design. The activities reported here are parts of a departmentwide effort not only to improve student learning in computer science and computer engineering (CE) but also to improve the agility of the Computer Science and Engineering Department in adapting the curriculum to changing technologies, incorporate research, and validate the instructional strategies used. This paper presents the design and implementation of the laboratories and the results and analysis of student performance. Also described in this paper is cooperative learning in the laboratories and its impact on student learning.     

Investigating the Presentation and Format of Instructional Prompts in an Electrical Circuit Analysis Computer-Based Learning Environment

Research has shown that providing instructional prompts in computer-based learning environments designed to support example-based learning fosters learning. In computer-based environments, where learners interact only with a computer and do not have access to direct support from a teacher, learners need to be provided with instructional prompts or just-in-time help intended to encourage more active example processing during learning. This study investigated whether it was more beneficial to provide the learners access to on-demand (self-regulated) help after they committed an error in problem solving or for the learning environment to regulate the presentation of instructional help externally. Furthermore, two different presentational formats—textual and pictorial—of instructional prompts were examined. This study was conducted with a computer-based learning environment that introduced high school students without any prior content-specific knowledge to the principles of parallel and series circuit analysis. Textual prompts facilitated practice problem solving notably better than pictorial prompts. Overall, textual-based prompts produced a large effect on near transfer. A significant format of prompts by academic ability interaction was discovered on near transfer. In particular, lower-ability learners scored significantly better when given textual prompts; whereas, their higher-ability counterparts performed equally well with both formats. Moreover, learners provided with externally regulated prompts reported significantly more positive attitudes toward the prompts in general compared to learners in the self-regulated conditions. Finally, continuous motivation was significantly stronger in learners who viewed textual prompts than in their counterparts in the pictorial prompt groups.     

Knowledge-based web-enabled agents and intelligent tutoring systems

Intelligent tutoring systems have been in existence for decades, and their characteristics can be beneficially applied in environments utilizing information and communication technology (ICT). The "intelligence" in these systems is seen through the way these systems adapt themselves to the characteristics of the students, such as speed of learning, specific areas in which the student excels as well as falls behind, and rate of learning as more knowledge is learned. In such intelligent learning environments, the agent or set of agents can be modeled to perform pedagogical tasks. This paper considers the necessary characteristics that constitute a good intelligent tutoring system. This paper introduces a framework incorporating an incremental machine-learning approach to capture 1) the dynamics of knowledge creation in the domain of interest and 2) the learned-knowledge content of the student over time. Some of the components of the proposed system are illustrated using examples from an introductory course on database design.     

Integrating a Nanologic Knowledge Module Into an Undergraduate Logic Design Course

This work discusses a knowledge module in an undergraduate logic design course for electrical engineering (EE) and computer science (CS) students, that introduces them to nanocomputing concepts. This knowledge module has a twofold objective. First, the module interests students in the fundamental logical behavior and functionality of the nanodevices of the future, which will motivate them to enroll in other elective courses related to nanotechnology, offered in most EE and CS departments. Second, this module can be used to let students analyze, synthesize, and apply their existing knowledge of the Karnaugh-map-based Boolean logic reduction scheme into a revolutionary design context with majority logic. Where many efforts focus on developing new courses on nanofabrication and even nanocomputing, this work is designed to augment the existing standard EE and CS courses by inserting knowledge modules on nanologic structures so as to stimulate student interest without creating a significant diversion from the course framework.