Effectiveness of using technology for reflective learning in engineering and design courses

DS 62: Proceedings of E&PDE 2010, the 12th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education - When Design Education and Design Research meet ..., Trondheim, Norway, 02.-03.09.2010

Year: 2010
Editor: Boks W; Ion, W; McMahon, C and Parkinson B
Author: Gill, Deshinder Singh; Katz, Tim; Covill, Derek; Morris, Richard
Section: SYNERGIES BETWEEN PRODUCT AND ENGINEERING DESIGN
Page(s): 310-314

Abstract

Whilst it is true that technology can be excellent as an enabling tool in promoting learning in design and engineering courses, it can also be very much a distraction to the learning process. A scheme was devised that identified clear pedagogic principles in the aims and objectives of the project. The clear lesson from the experience was that student need to have more control over their own
learning process, allowing them to employ their own learning techniques, which could include instances when they did not always prepare before a session. It was important that the process would
include a method where students who did not prepare for a session could still participate in the learning activities. This project seeks to encourage the students to try to devise their own learning strategy which invariably allows them to make mistakes. More importantly allowing them to recognize a good practice in their learning process allows them to feel more valued. The final use of technology revolved around the use of the on-line journal using the resources provided by the VLE and the amount of staff time needed. A scheme was devised where the students would refer to their reflective posts on BLOGS in a series of reports, each report covering a short period of a few weeks. This shifted the responsibility for the monitoring of the reflections back to the student.

Keywords: Reflective learning, engineering, design, on-line activities

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