Effective Use of Various Active Learning Techniques for the Course Automation and Control Engineering

Abstract

Outcome in the traditional setting of chalkboard teaching, students tends to remain in the passive mode and do not actively participate in the teaching and learning process. As a result of this, they may lose interest in the course content and conceptual understanding declines. It directly impacts their performance in the examination. With the use of active learning strategies, the subject teacher plays the role of facilitator and creates a conducive environment for students to actively participate in the teaching learning process. This paper discusses effective use of various active learning techniques implemented for the course of ‘Automation and Control Engineering’ for Third year undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Program at CCEW. Techniques such as expert lecture, open ended assignments, YouTube video for animation were employed for content delivery in theory as well as laboratory sessions. Performance evaluation was carried out by using techniques such as google quizzes and group activity on hydraulic and pneumatic trainer kit. Students' perceptions about the implementation of these active learning techniques are studied and analyzed which are reported in this paper. It is observed that as the results of this implementation students' overall understanding of the course content is enhanced. Keywords— Active Learning; Demo Based Exam; Open Ended Assignment; Oral Exam; Quizzes.