Electronic systems design: An experiment of project-based learning on network

The NetPro project creates models, methods, tools and materials for network-based project learning in engineering education. This new environment is a distributed system that facilitates sharing and peer reviewing of project deliverables and interaction in special interest group discussions. The paper presents as an example the pilot course on Electronic Systems Design and its preliminary evaluation.     

项目教学法在电子类课程设计中的应用研究

随着职业教育观念的转变,以就业为导向,以能力为本位,以职业实践为主线的课程改革与人才培养模式正在兴起.将项目教学法引入到电子类课程设计的教学中,通过确定项目任务、制定项目计划、进行项目实施和检查评价4个方面展开教学,并与传统教学法进行比较,分析项目教学法的优点,对如何提高学生的学习兴趣、增强学生的实践技能作了一些有益的探索.     

Peer assessment in a project-based engineering course: comparing between on-campus and online learning environments

As the number of participants in online distance learning courses increases, peer assessment is becoming a popular strategy for evaluating open assignments and for breaking the social isolation surrounding distance education. Yet, the quality and characteristics of peer assessment in massive online courses has received little attention. Hence, this study was set to examine peer feedback quality and grading accuracy in a project-based course. The study applied a sequential exploratory mixed methods design. It included 339 participants who studied the same engineering course, but in three different modes: on-campus (n = 77), small private online course (n = 110), and massive open online course (MOOC) (n = 152). Content analysis of feedback comments identified four categories: reinforcement, statement, verification and elaboration, arranged in an ascending scale of cognitive ability. The findings indicated that the MOOC participants provided more feedback comments and volunteered to assess more projects than their counterparts did. However, the on-campus students provided higher quality feedback and their peer grading was better correlated with the grades assigned by the teaching assistants.     

Opportunities for educational innovations in authentic project-based learning: understanding instructor perceived challenges to design for adoption

Educational technology research and development - Authentic project-based learning (APBL) is a highly effective way for instructors to help students learn disciplinary skills, modes of thinking,...     

School support and teacher motivation to implement project-based learning

The present study investigated how school support was related to teachers' motivation and willingness to persist in project-based learning. The participants were 182 Hong Kong teachers who completed a questionnaire about their school's support and their motivation to implement project-based learning. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that when teachers perceived their schools as being stronger in collegiality and more supportive of teacher competence and autonomy, they had higher motivation in project-based learning and stronger willingness to persist in this educational innovation. Perceived school support predicted teachers' attitude for future persistence both directly and indirectly through its influence on teacher motivation. The results suggest that social-contextual factors are important for teacher motivation in the implementation of educational innovations.     

数学研究性学习探微

章从社会发展、教学学科要求及当代教育理念等角度论述了研究性学习产生的背景，初步探讨了研究性学习的内涵、目标及其评价，并以比较翔实的数学事实，运用认知心理学基本原理，介绍了数学研究性学习的基本类型。     

A project-based learning approach: a case study in China

The goal of higher education is to cultivate graduates’ creative capability, critical thinking skills, and other professional qualities. This paper describes a project-based course and its application in graduate-level education. This course is to improve students’ creative capability, collaboration capability, and self-direction. It includes many new elements such as project-oriented, up-to-date textbooks and research results, and peer-review grading systems. Compared with conventional courses, the evidence suggests that the project-based learning approaches used in this study will be quite successful for providing postgraduate students with more autonomy and creative learning experience.     

基于项目教学法的初中英语实践案例设计与实施

用项目教学法开展初中英语实践活动,教学的项目由教师设计,学生是实施项目的主体,教师在项目实施的过程中是指导者和帮助者。项目活动的开展采取课堂与课外相结合的方式,由教师带领学生通过合作探究,开展项目活动,指导学生完成各项项目作业,从而掌握知识、开发智能、培养自主学习能力。     

An evaluation of the learning of structural engineering concepts during the first two years of a project-based engineering degree

In the modern working environment it is essential for a structural engineer to have an understanding of abstract concepts in structural behaviour and an ability to use them qualitatively. This paper presents the findings of a study on how effectively students acquire such conceptual understanding within a new project/design focused degree course. The new degree programme is described. The first-year students experience a mixture of learning opportunities, including model building/testing, laboratories, workshops/tutorials, and lectures. In the second year there are two design exercises but no formal structural theory course. Specific concepts-based learning material was introduced into the first-year course at mid-semester and the effectiveness of this examined by tests and interviews. The performance of the first-year students is compared to that of the second-year students. The findings show that there is good student engagement and satisfaction with the course and that basic skills are successfully being acquired throughout both years. However, the study highlights areas where concepts are not being adequately developed in the first year and subsequently show little enhancement in the second year.     

Investigating the link between self directed learning readiness and project-based learning outcomes: the case of international Masters students in an engineering management course

Modern learning approaches increasingly have fewer structured learning activities and more self-directed learning tasks guided through consultation with academics. Such tasks are predominately project-/problem-based where the student is required to follow a freely guided road map to self discovery while simultaneously achieving desired learning outcomes for a particular course. However, many international students struggle to adjust to an Australian higher learning environment where they are being increasingly encouraged to undertake self directed learning (SDL). Thus, this paper proposes the concept that international students who have higher readiness for SDL gain greater learning outcomes from project-based learning (PBL) approaches. To achieve this objective, a questionnaire survey of 26 students (65% of class) completing an engineering management course was conducted. Linear regression analysis provided evidence that SDL readiness was a key enabler for achieving learning outcomes from PBL. In particular, having high self-management skills was shown to be the most significant and reliable predictor for achieving learning outcomes from PBL. Through understanding students SDL readiness at the commencement of their engineering programmes, academics can better tailor PBL support mechanisms to achieve desired learning outcomes.     

Teacher and student intrinsic motivation in project-based learning

In this study we examined the relationship between teacher and student intrinsic motivation in project-based learning. The participants were 126 Hong Kong secondary school teachers and their 631 students who completed evaluation questionnaires after a semester-long project-based learning program. Both teachers and students were asked to indicate their motivation in the program, and students were also asked to report the instructional support they received from their teachers. The results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses showed that teacher intrinsic motivation predicted student intrinsic motivation directly as well as indirectly through the mediation of instructional support. When teachers reported higher intrinsic motivation in the program, their students tended to perceive receiving more support from them and to report higher intrinsic motivation in the learning experience.     

Developing effective and accessible activities to improve and assess computational thinking and engineering learning

Educational technology research and development - Computational thinking (CT) skills are critical for the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, thus drawing increasing...     

在学科教学中渗透探究性学习的策略

在学科教学中渗透探究性学习,需要采取一定的策略.本文从转变教师教学观念;运用系统论的方法,全面、系统把握教材;密切联系自然、社会、生活中的问题进行探究;引导学生自主探究,掌握思维方法和探究方法,使学生获得发展等方面进行阐述.     

Project-based learning in engineering design in Bulgaria: expectations,experiments and results

Using a students’ workshop as a laboratory, this article summarises the observation of three years’ implementation of a new study module for a Bachelor Program in Engineering Design (Interior and Furniture Design) at the University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria. The article offers an analysis of group dynamics and the difficulties and issues observed during the process. Data from survey questionnaires are interpreted; proposals are made for future research. The conclusion of the authors includes the following points: positive response by students, important encounter with successful professionals and companies; creative fulfilment and experience of team work. On the weak side is the experienced discomfort in public presentation, lack of verbal and graphic skills, interpersonal issues and pressure of real requirements from teachers and company; lack of adequate attention by the tutors. The need of better understanding a team ‘code’ of behaviour and preparation for an active learning method was felt. A proposal leading to a mixed-team organisation for better support of first-time participants in the module is made.     

Mitigate cross-cultural pragmatic failure in interpretation with project-based learning

Mistakes in interpretation are concerned with not merely poor language competence but also incapability of smooth crosscultural communication,which indicates that interpreters should be more competent in pragmatics consistent to the cultural models of relevance.The analysis demonstrates the importance of understanding cross-cultural pragmatics and some implications for teaching,particularly in the EFL environment.Project-based learning,conforming to the requirements of personnel training against the background of globalization,can well serve the goal of developing students’ overall cross-cultural communication competence in interpretation courses,when culture and its impacts on pragmatic competence of interpretation are not left out in both the in-class and after-class activities,but are dealt with in a sensitive and open-minded way.     

Bayesian approaches to associative learning: From passive to active learning

Traditional associationist models represent an organism's knowledge state by a single strength of association on each associative link. Bayesian models instead represent knowledge by a distribution of graded degrees of belief over a range of candidate hypotheses. Many traditional associationist models assume that the learner is passive, adjusting strengths of association only in reaction to stimuli delivered by the environment. Bayesian models, on the other hand, can describe how the learner should actively probe the environment to learn optimally. The first part of this article reviews two Bayesian accounts of backward blocking, a phenomenon that is challenging for many traditional theories. The broad Bayesian framework, in which these models reside, is also selectively reviewed. The second part focuses on two formalizations of optimal active learning: maximizing either the expected information gain or the probability gain. New analyses of optimal active learning by a Kalman filter and by a noisy-logic gate show that these two Bayesian models make different predictions for some environments. The Kalman filter predictions are disconfirmed in at least one case.     

从形而上学到后形而上学——论哈贝马斯的后形而上学之思

哈贝马斯将形而上学看做是西方哲学从古代到近代的主流形态。它的主要内容是同一性思想,理念论以及强大的理论概念。19世纪末20世纪初,哲学发生了重大的转向－－程序合理性代替实质合理性,理性的重新定位,语言学转向和克服逻各斯中心主义等,形而上学思想被后而上学思想所代替,但在哈巴马斯看来,已形成的后形而上学思想都存在某种缺陷,只有交往行为理论才是后形而上学时代的最佳选择。