HR: 1340h
AN: ED13D-1168    [Abstracts]
TI: Motivating Students to Write in Engineering Courses
AU: * NARAYANAN, M
EM: narayam@muohio.edu
AF: MIAMI UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD, HAMILTON, OH 45011 United States
AB: Several scholars in the area of cognitive science have promoted new articulation guidelines for generating learning objectives such that student accomplishments become much more apparent and easily measurable. Technical writing has been a part of engineering education for a long time. Regardless, it appears that engineering students are more interested in spending productive time learning the mathematical aspects of subject matter. The students are reluctant to devote time and effort that involves descriptive writing. It is essential for the students to recognize that writing indeed enhances their grasp over technical content. In this paper, the author promotes such a practice and outlines how it could indeed help the instructor in assessing one's own teaching effectiveness. Leading educators and scholars in the area of cognitive science agree that in the modern era, a new paradigm for assessment called a learning paradigm must be generated to observe, measure and document the success of creative, new educational methods and practices. Educators have understood the implications and importance of Bloom's Taxonomy. Teachers have recognized that the students must be provided with an opportunity to develop their problem-solving skills in addition to mastering a particular body of information. Furthermore, many of our educational institutions have tried to move away from emphasizing the establishment of strong knowledge-base. The trend is to develop an interactive problem-solving pedagogy that encourages the development of learner's creativity, understanding, written and oral communication skills. (Saxe, 1988; Senge, 1990; Sims, 1995; Young & Young, 1999). In a learning paradigm, it is observed that evaluation is holistic, and student success outcomes are what is measured. Many scholars have recommended and supported a value-added concept of education by doing assessments before, during, and after a course. (Barr & Tagg, 1995). Other scholars have argued that achievement of educational objectives is becoming less and less measurable whereas the need for accountability is raising to the surface more frequently. The literature supports our intuitive belief that education in a new learning paradigm will prepare students for the work ahead of them. (Cox, Grasha, & Richlin 1997, March). Saxe, Senge and Sims all believe that in order to lead in a postmodern world, students need flexibility and problem-solving skills more than they need to master any particular body of information (Saxe, 1988; Senge, 1990; Sims, 1995). It is important that faculty members aspire to become masters of cognitive studies. They should be motivated and be driven to develop scholarship of pedagogy and a curriculum structure that can draw upon and embody learning principles. For example, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has embarked on a mission to educate students with a broader perspective. In this paper, the author tries to provide guidelines for articulating learning objectives using writing as an effective tool. In addition, he promotes the use of certain set of assessment methods that could benefit the learner as well as the instructor. References : Barr, R. B., & Tagg, J. (1995, November/December). From teaching to learning: A new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Education, 13-24.
UR: http://www.muohio.edu
DE: 0820 Curriculum and laboratory design
DE: 0825 Teaching methods
DE: 0830 Teacher training
DE: 0840 Evaluation and assessment
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005