The learning effect of an active-learning room-acoustics coursework

Abstract

This paper investigates the learning effect of a developed coursework for an engineering acoustics course offered to fourth year and postgraduate engineering students at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. The coursework incorporated practical active-learning activities and was developed to help students gain understanding of complex concepts related to the room-acoustics measurement and analysis and also introduce students to some of the practical tasks that are typical of a practising acoustical engineer in New Zealand. The learning effect of the coursework was measured by comparing students' performance in two quizzes that were run before and after students worked on the coursework. Students' performance on the final examination was also analyzed. An analysis of the common mistakes made by students in the assignment report was also conducted. Overall, the analysis suggests that the coursework generally improved the students' understanding of the material that it covered.