Abstract
Engineering tertiary courses that reflect professional activity mandate the successful application of theorems and concepts in order to solve technical problems. This graduate skill is typically assessed during student problem-solving activities. Furthermore, both collaborative learning and the interactive study method known as self-explanation have been identified, by researchers, as techniques that enhance student learning. In the reported longitudinal study, students shared their solutions to problem-solving exercises with a version of self-explanation in a collaborative environment. The research investigated the effects of the intervention on student outcomes as reflected in their assessment results. In 2013, the weekly tutorial content, for a first-year electronics course, was reworked with a focus on problem-solving activities. During these sessions the students were engaged by asking them to share electronically, or via a document camera, their prepared solutions to problems that should have been attempted prior to attending. The data collected included the scores these students obtained for each of the assessable components for the course in semester one 2013, 2014, 2016 and semester two in 2016. This data were analyzed by comparing results with those of the 2012 cohort. Week-by-week tutorial attendances showed similar trending in all semesters. The mean total mark, mean exam mark and the mean laboratory mark consistently maintained improvement over those of 2012; while the mean tutorial participation mark and the mean assignment mark were consistently worse (except for the 2014 cohort) than the corresponding ones for 2012.
Highlights
Researchers have identified that active collaborative learning, as well as membership in learning communities, engage learners [1]
The research question addressed by this study was: Will problem-solving exercises attempted by students before their tutorials, followed by the opportunity to collaboratively participate in a learning community, result in better learning outcomes?
The data trends visually highlight the fact that the trending for each semester is Problem-based Tutorial Sessions have on Student Learning Outcomes significantly similar
Summary
Researchers have identified that active collaborative learning, as well as membership in learning communities, engage learners [1]. In this study the research focused on investigating communal interactive learning during tutorials for a first-year electronics systems course at an Australian university While demonstrating their own attempts to solve the previously set problems, the students were given the opportunity to explain their solutions to others in a tutorial venue. The ensuing setup directly supported the real-time supervision of student activities with virtual “teaching between desks” (that is known as “kikan-shido” [8]) and over-the-shoulder learning and teaching (OTST/L) [9]. These pedagogies have been identified as being dominantly present in laboratories and tutorials [10]. Tablet computers were available in the venue during two of the observed semesters
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