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Strategies for promoting active learning in classes
Author
Teo, Ee Chon
Supervisor
D'Rozario, Vilma
Abstract
In tertiary education, knowledge is imparted by the traditional "fifty-minute" lectures. The teacher, as well as facilitator, has an important role to play. To ensure that the students master specialized knowledge and skill in their respective field of study; to encourage students to develop skills of problem-solving, critical and innovative thinking, and the ability to reason, evaluate and apply the knowledge; and to act as a professional role model by demonstrating an awareness of current knowledge, skills and expertise in particular areas of specialization and exhibiting an enthusiasm of lifelong learning. An appropriate students' learning strategies are proposed to match the course objectives, developing students' communication and interpersonal skills through the use of cooperative learning strategy. The subject of discussion is based on the First Year Common Engineering Laboratory & Workshop (L&W) course in the School of Mechanical and Production Engineering, NTU.
The current practices of instructing and learning outcomes of the laboratory class did not serve the purposes well. Noticeable passive learning attitudes of students even in the open friendly laboratory environment were obvious. It was found that, from the surveys of the learning and studying strategy on the current 1st Year Part-time B.Eng (ME) students and those carried out by previous PGDipTHE participants using Bigg's Study Process Questionnaire, the majority of our students are surface learners. There is indeed a need to re-evaluate our attitudinal and conceptual perceptions towards the learning process and adjust our teaching strategies, particularly in small classes such as tutorial or experiment/project classes.
Due to time constraint and heavy workload for students, the proposed strategies for promoting active learning in the L&W class was not implemented presently. It was suggested that action research be carried out in the coming semester to prove its effectiveness and practicality.
Finally, some personal reflections and comments on the project are summarized.
The current practices of instructing and learning outcomes of the laboratory class did not serve the purposes well. Noticeable passive learning attitudes of students even in the open friendly laboratory environment were obvious. It was found that, from the surveys of the learning and studying strategy on the current 1st Year Part-time B.Eng (ME) students and those carried out by previous PGDipTHE participants using Bigg's Study Process Questionnaire, the majority of our students are surface learners. There is indeed a need to re-evaluate our attitudinal and conceptual perceptions towards the learning process and adjust our teaching strategies, particularly in small classes such as tutorial or experiment/project classes.
Due to time constraint and heavy workload for students, the proposed strategies for promoting active learning in the L&W class was not implemented presently. It was suggested that action research be carried out in the coming semester to prove its effectiveness and practicality.
Finally, some personal reflections and comments on the project are summarized.
Date Issued
1998
Call Number
LB1060 Teo
Date Submitted
1998