ME39C : Philosophy

Instructional and Cognitive Goals

The philosophy for this course is to encourage students to develop an understanding of engineering through investigation and design in a collaborative learning environment. Students will be encouraged to construct their understanding and share their knowledge and experience during case studies development with other students. As modeled by the instructor, students will provide feedback and critique to other students on projects. Instruction is based on the Scaffolded Knowledge Integration framework. We hope to build on students' intutions in design, capitalize on social supports, and make thinking explicit.

The Kolb model of experiential learning is used to structure activities to promote learning into four areas that include reflective observation, active experimentation, concrete experience, and abstract conceptualization [Kolb, 1984; Svinicki & Dixon, 1990]. This model of experiential learning is appropriate for professional engineering education with a view towards preparation for lifelong learning and as a means of accommodating and exploiting learning style differences.

Why is this an engineering course?

Students need to learn how to:

pursue open-ended questions and investigate their solutions.
learn how to work in teams and communicate effectively with peers.
learn the design process:brainstorming, problem definition, iterative design, implementation, reflection, and redesign.
learn how to make decisions and trade-offs in product design
learn how to manage time on design projects
build confidence in learning new technology and new modes of communication.

This course will test several new concepts in engineering education practice:

team teaching
collaborative multifunctional teams of student developers constructing their own view of engineering using multimedia tools
design instruction in frosh/soph year
evaluation and assessment by peer review.

To measure the effectiveness of the course to support knowledge construction and knowledge integration, a variety of assessment methods will be used.: including pre and post surveys, electronic discussion, 3x5 cards, portfolios of student work, and focus group interviews.

To find out more information, please read our paper
Scaffolding Knowledge Integration through Designing Multimedia Case Studies of Engineering Design