Grant Recipients: Rania Al-Hammoud and Carmen Che*, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
*undergraduate student
(Project timeline: May 2016 - April 2017)
Description
The current generation of undergraduate students is generally accustomed to using various online discussion platforms to share ideas. We proposed that by integrating this familiar environment into a first year fundamental engineering course, the learning will be more natural and engaging. Students were required to contribute to an online question-and-answer discussion about a given course topic with minimal instructor intervention. They were encouraged to vote on the most popular question/answer. The instructor then directed the lectures based on the ranking of the online discussions. Lectures were thus geared by the students’ collective interests, fostering deep learning. Students were then be quizzed based on the question/answers from the online discussion forum. Efficacy of the method can be assessed using discussion platform statistics, quiz and exam results, and student surveys.
Questions Investigated
- Peer to peer learning
- Active interaction with material
- Self-directed learning
- Students’ retention of knowledge
- Students’ application of knowledge
Findings/Insights
The procedure exposed students to a process where their knowledge and understanding was continually reinforced. Regular testing based on the question and answer discussion was effective for improving students' perceived understanding of course materials, and working with their peers motivated students to participate (e.g., wanting to create good questions, or answer questions). Students in these implementations were also more actively engaged in learning the material.
Despite the positive outcome, there is always room to improve. The main concerns were related to reducing the amount of work for both the students and instruction team. Naturally, as the class size gets larger the number of questions grows. In the large classroom, this meant students were reviewing a significant number of questions for each mini-test, which could be counterproductive. Even though mini-tests were scheduled less frequently (not every week), some students still found this overwhelming. Monitoring the forum also becomes strenuous on the instruction team, as they must ensure that the quality and accuracy of the questions, answers, and discussion remain high. The workload for the students is minimized by giving students the option to answer questions for participation instead of asking questions. In future implementations, other options will be explored, such as making participation on the forum voluntary, or grouping students together and requiring participation on a group basis rather than on an individual basis. These implementations will continue to be modified and improved as more results (student feedback, quantitative measures, etc.) become available.
Dissemination and Impact
- At the individual level (e.g., on students and colleagues): presented to several colleagues from the Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering departments, and they started using the Piazza online discussion forum.
- At the Department/School and/or Faculty/Unit levels (e.g., dissemination at Department meetings; impact on any courses or programs): Presented at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department meeting in May 2017, and 3 professors in my department started using it.
- At the provincial, national and/or international levels (e.g., presenting at conferences beyond uWaterloo; impact on discipline): presented the findings in an international American Society of Engineering Education paper on June 28, 2017 in Columbus, OH. Please see the Published Paper (PDF).
Impact of the Project
- Teaching: I have changed my teaching to include the online discussion forum now in all the courses I teach. I have used the online discussion so far in four courses. I am making minor changes to the methodology as I get feedback from the students such as:
- Not forcing students to participate
- Assigning a half-an-hour in a day of the week for each TA to be responsible to check the online discussion forum to endorse correct answers
- Encouraging students to respond to each other's questions by giving bonus marks to the top students
- Involvement in other activities or projects: The success of this project gave me the confidence to successfully apply for other grants. It also made me connect with more graduate and undergraduate students and involve them with these other research projects, widening the scope of interest in the Engineering educational field. I’m also still continuing this study, hoping to publish another journal paper from these results.
- Connections with people from different departments, faculties, and/or disciplines about teaching and learning: I have connected with other faculty members in our university and abroad because of this grant. This grant allowed me to travel to the American Society for Engineering Education conference in June 2017, which allowed me to network with other interested faculty members in engineering education from other universities. The results are the brainstorming of several grant ideas that I am currently working on with other faculty members.
References
Project Reference List (PDF)