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Akives und forschendes Lernen im Ingenieurstudium : [Vortrag auf der] 72. Plenarversammlung des Fakultätentages für Bauingenieurwesen, Geodäsie und Umweltingenieurwesen (FTBGU)
Citation Link: https://doi.org/10.15480/882.2486
Publikationstyp
Conference Presentation
Date Issued
2015-07-16
Sprache
German
Author(s)
Institut
TORE-DOI
TORE-URI
In this presentation, having been held on the occasion of the 72nd plenary assembly of departments of civil engineering, geodesy and environmental engineering (FTBGU), three questions are addressed: Why should active learning become an integral part of teaching concepts in technical sciences? Why should research-based learning be fostered alike? How can both approaches contribute to better learning results?
As Freeman et al. (2014) point out with respect to their comprehensive meta study on active learning in engineering, failure rates in large-scale classes decrease significantly when teachers make use of methods to activate students in class. It is therefore not surprising that active learning is associated with central aspects of modern teaching and learning, often summed up by the generic concept „shift from teaching to learning” (Barr & Tagg, 1995): Instead of comprehensively covering the subject content by speaking out every detail by themselves during their lectures, which is still very common in STEM study programs, university teachers rather act as expert advisors or commentators to guide and inspire student learning activity, making use of educational methods like think-pair-share, peer instruction or variations of the innovation debate-format.
For this, the teaching innovation project „hydrology” (part of 3rd semester curriculum of the bachelor program “civil and environmental engineering” at Hamburg University of Technology) can serve as good practice: A lecture was replaced by a series of expert presentations run by student groups, each and every session being complemented by student-driven panel discussions and additional peer feedback.
What is more, active learning in university teaching can serve as a starting point to transform teaching concepts according to research-based learning. For many reasons, this educational format should be considered when it comes to the renewal of course or curriculum design. For example, institutions of higher education are obligated to enable their students to do a doctoral thesis by successfully fulfilling preceding master programs. Therefore, research-based learning can be applied to different phases of a study program and to various levels of difficulty. As a small-scale variation, it can be carried out as limited discussions on research theses or methodical questions, embedded within common lectures. On a large scale, this approach can also be implemented by long-term research projects carried out independently by students and being an integral part of the curriculum.
At Hamburg University of Technology, 60 international students carry out a range of group-based research projects in environmental engineering within the module “water & wastewater systems” (Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection). In addition to the project work, scientific conversations take place in an idea workshop where students give milestone presentations and get peer feedback with respect to their work process status. The teaching concept also comprises a blog and a closing conference.
As Freeman et al. (2014) point out with respect to their comprehensive meta study on active learning in engineering, failure rates in large-scale classes decrease significantly when teachers make use of methods to activate students in class. It is therefore not surprising that active learning is associated with central aspects of modern teaching and learning, often summed up by the generic concept „shift from teaching to learning” (Barr & Tagg, 1995): Instead of comprehensively covering the subject content by speaking out every detail by themselves during their lectures, which is still very common in STEM study programs, university teachers rather act as expert advisors or commentators to guide and inspire student learning activity, making use of educational methods like think-pair-share, peer instruction or variations of the innovation debate-format.
For this, the teaching innovation project „hydrology” (part of 3rd semester curriculum of the bachelor program “civil and environmental engineering” at Hamburg University of Technology) can serve as good practice: A lecture was replaced by a series of expert presentations run by student groups, each and every session being complemented by student-driven panel discussions and additional peer feedback.
What is more, active learning in university teaching can serve as a starting point to transform teaching concepts according to research-based learning. For many reasons, this educational format should be considered when it comes to the renewal of course or curriculum design. For example, institutions of higher education are obligated to enable their students to do a doctoral thesis by successfully fulfilling preceding master programs. Therefore, research-based learning can be applied to different phases of a study program and to various levels of difficulty. As a small-scale variation, it can be carried out as limited discussions on research theses or methodical questions, embedded within common lectures. On a large scale, this approach can also be implemented by long-term research projects carried out independently by students and being an integral part of the curriculum.
At Hamburg University of Technology, 60 international students carry out a range of group-based research projects in environmental engineering within the module “water & wastewater systems” (Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection). In addition to the project work, scientific conversations take place in an idea workshop where students give milestone presentations and get peer feedback with respect to their work process status. The teaching concept also comprises a blog and a closing conference.
Subjects
Ingenieurwissenschaften
Lehrentwicklung
Technikdidaktik
Aktives Lernen
Forschendes Lernen
DDC Class
000: Allgemeines, Wissenschaft
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Name
Vosgerau, K. (2015). Aktives und Forschendes Lernen im Ingenieurstudium (Vortrag FTBGU 2015, Hannover).pdf
Size
14.97 MB
Format
Adobe PDF