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Students Views on Engineering Mechanics Education and Implications for Educators
Citation
Goldfinch, T and Carew, ALJ and Thomas, GA, Students Views on Engineering Mechanics Education and Implications for Educators, Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference for the Australasian Association for Engineering Education, 6 - 9 December 2009, Adelaide, pp. 624-629. ISBN 1876346590 (2009) [Refereed Conference Paper]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2009 Remains the property of the author(s). The author(s) assign to AaeE and educational non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced.
Official URL: http://aaee.com.au/
Abstract
This paper presents findings of a qualitative study conducted as part of a larger
project to address the issue of high failure rates in first year engineering mechanics.
Engineering student focus groups were held at two institutions, and were asked about the
subject area, curriculum, and their approaches to study. Eight academics were also
interviewed individually on the same topics to provide some context for the focus group
outcomes. Documented responses revealed a tendency for both groups to focus on the
most negative or extreme examples as cases which were representative of a wider
situation. Although the focus group and interview protocols were designed to elicit
posittve and negative views, the negative appeared to dominate. We propose that the
predominantly negative perception and interpretation of the situation, and an apparent
'us and them' mentality potentially contribute to high failure rates in engineering
mechanics. These issues may be creating stumbling blocks, or leading to de-motivation in
educators' attempts to teach the topic successfully, and students' efforts to learn the
material effectively.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Education |
| Research Group: | Curriculum and Pedagogy |
| Research Field: | Science, Technology and Engineering Curriculum and Pedagogy |
| Objective Division: | Education and Training |
| Objective Group: | Curriculum |
| Objective Field: | Syllabus and Curriculum Development |
| UTAS Author: | Carew, ALJ (Dr Anna Carew) |
| UTAS Author: | Thomas, GA (Professor Giles Thomas) |
| ID Code: | 61211 |
| Year Published: | 2009 |
| Deposited By: | NC Maritime Engineering and Hydrodynamics |
| Deposited On: | 2010-03-01 |
| Last Modified: | 2014-11-26 |
| Downloads: | 352 View Download Statistics |
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