Abstract
This study presents an analysis of self-reported student perceptions and experiences of authenticity during an undergraduate first-year problem-based learning (PBL) engineering module at UCL. The aim is to further understand how students perceive authentic learning experiences in order to support and maximise this kind of learning throughout their degree programmes. The data shows that our students did perceive their first-year experiences as authentic despite the fact that the context they worked in and the outputs that they created were not the most real-world part of their experience. The data supports previous work on authentic learning which suggests what really matters is cognitive realism and not physical realism. However, it may be possible to introduce levels of authenticity at increasing levels of complexity throughout the student journey. The analysis is located within the wider field of authentic learning, PBL and builds on this work to suggest how dimensions of authenticity may be graduated across a degree programme.
Highlights
Five years ago, UCL Engineering took the decision to revamp their existing undergraduate degree programmes and create more opportunities within the curricula for all students to apply their technical knowledge through practical application
The literature on authentic learning describes a partial shift in Higher Education (HE) away from behaviourist pedagogies to more constructivist models of learning (Herrington & Oliver, 2000; Jonassen, 1991), which lend themselves to curriculum design that situates learning in problem-solving and projects that mirror professional practice
Data arising from the first term, first year project-based learning (PBL) activity, The Challenges show that these students tend to call forth a dimension of authenticity when asked about what they like most about the PBL module
Summary
UCL Engineering took the decision to revamp their existing undergraduate degree programmes and create more opportunities within the curricula for all students to apply their technical knowledge through practical application. The learning space is much more focused, but is inter-disciplinary and if it were not, it would make no technical sense When it was initially implemented, The Challenges module was intended to give the first-year students an opportunity to put their learning into practice by working in an inter-disciplinary, problem-based, industry linked and design focused environment. PBL activities have long been documented as an effective means to enhance student motivation through the integration of ‘real’ problems (de Graaff & Kolmos, 2003) Such activities give each student the opportunity to put into practice their technical and theoretical knowledge, while at the same time developing a wide range of professional skills; skill sets which are increasingly emphasised by industry as key to graduate employability (International Engineering Alliance, 2013; Royal Academy of Engineering, 2007; Wakeham, 2016). These continue to be strong drivers for the development and optimisation of the IEP PBL activities and student learning experience
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