Abstract
This paper offers detailed examples of how research-based learning princi-ples can be translated into the instructional decisions involved in designing an engineering course. The redesign of the specific course on environmental geotechnics was prompted by transforming a lecture-based course to an online version. The implemented changes are compatible with research find-ings on learning, which are distilled in the literature in the form of the learn-ing principles reviewed herein. For presentation purposes, the changes are grouped in two main categories: logistical changes, i.e. modifications mainly imposed by the constraints of online study, and pedagogical changes, i.e. changes not related to the learning medium. Examples of implemented modi-fications are given in the body of the paper and in the Supplement. In most cases, the initial motivation for a change was not to achieve compatibility with results of research on learning. Rather, the intended overarching aim was to make transparent the major decisions involved in course design. As far as the paper is concerned, its ultimate goal is to engage engineering in-structors in contributing to communal teaching resources. Its immediate goal is to make explicit the relationship between good instructional practices and the research evidence that supports them through a variety of examples. In the process of so doing, the paper identified the research need to record how domain experts understand foundational domain concepts in a way suitable for use in instruction.
Highlights
This paper belongs in the genre “Case Study of Designing an Upper-Level University Course” and describes elements of the redesign of an elective course on Environmental Geotechnics
The online version of the environmental geotechnics course is in Greek and it is meant for self-paced study
This paper extends their work by Proposing specific domain-general practices of implementing these strategies Providing, for each proposed practice, a concrete example from the previously described environmental geotechnics course
Summary
This paper belongs in the genre “Case Study of Designing an Upper-Level University Course” and describes elements of the redesign of an elective course on Environmental Geotechnics. Familiarity of instructors with the literature on education is highly recommended, as there is evidence of positive correlation with their students’ achievement level [9] Within this context, this paper uses the opportunity of the redesign of the environmental geotechnics course to give examples of. The paper starts with introducing the main principles that underpin practices implemented during redesign (Section 2), as they are presented by Ambrose et al in “How learning works: 7 research-based principles for smart teaching” [8] In order for these good practices to reinforce each other, it is best to be implemented within a systematic course design framework. For the use of interested readers, additional examples are provided in a Supplement, together with PowerPoint presentations (translated in English), available on the first author’s webpage (see online [11])
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