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5 6 B: 0 r: 5 > 2 > 5 > 5 w/ v / T 4 A0 D 0 } w/ w/ w/ : : 3 w/ w/ w/ r: 2 2 2 2 d ) ) Revisiting the first year project-based course in sustainable design for civil/infrastructure and environmental engineers
Roger G. HadgraftDavid R. Oxley III, John Brumley, Edmund HoranLiam Ward, Paulino Piotto
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Roger.Hadgraft@RMIT.edu.au
Abstract: This paper describes progress in the introduction of first year project (design) courses. It updates a paper from the 2005 conference. Key issues discussed are the need for an explicit design process, groupwork support with peer assessment, research skills, logbooks (and design files) and connecting the project to the lecture material. The students are supported through small tutorials and through a Project Handbook.
Keywords: first year, design, project-based learning, groupwork, teamwork, research, logbooks
Introduction
At the 2005 conference we had the opportunity to describe some challenges we were facing in engaging first year environmental engineers and civil & infrastructure engineers in a project-based course in sustainable design (a key graduate attribute defined by Engineers Australia) ADDIN EN.CITE Goricanec200511511510Goricanec, J. L.Hadgraft, R. G.Brumley, J.Oxley, D.Radcliffe & HumphriesProblematic project work in a first year course sustainability for civil/infrastructure and environmental engineersGlobal Colloquium in Engineering Education2005SydneyUQ(Goricanec, Hadgraft et al. 2005).
Some of the difficulties we identified last year were:
Students found it difficult to engage in the task we had set (the design and assessment of impacts for a new visitors centre in a major city park)
They had difficulties in groups
They didnt know what steps to follow in solving complex problems
They didnt go far enough with their research
They couldnt make connections between the lectures and the project work
They didnt know how to use a logbook/journal
In first semester 2006, students tackled designs and impacts for a range of entertainment projects next to the Yarra River: a boatshed restaurant, themed gardens, floating stage, pedestrian bridge, night market and ice skating facility.
This paper discusses the progress made in implementing a more structured approach to this type of group design work.
Guiding ideas
Research in improving first year engineering experiences has been available for some time. One of the best sources of information is ADDIN EN.CITE Foundation Coalition200612512512Foundation Coalition,Foundation Coalition website30 Oct 20062006http://www.foundationcoalition.org/(Foundation Coalition 2006) which articulated seven key ideas for curriculum reform:
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/collaborative_learning.html" Active and cooperative learning: increasing student participation in and ownership of their learning
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/minorities.html" Increasing the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in engineering: if the learning environment works for a more diverse student body, then it will be a better learning environment for all students
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/student_teams.html" Student teams in engineering: helping students develop their abilities to work within and lead teams, which requires more than assigning students to group projects
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/technology_enabled.html" Technology-enabled learning: creating learning environments in which routine access to ubiquitous technology is assumed and the revision of learning activities is based on this assumption
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/assessment_evaluation.html" Continuous improvement through assessment, evaluation, and feedback: develop assessment processes to collect data on the impact of changes to the curricula and learning environments, reaching conclusions about the efficacy of those changes and making improvements where indicated
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/curriculum_integration.html" Curriculum integration and inclusive learning communities: helping students make connections between various disciplines and between academic topics and lifelong careers and helping them to build learning relationships with other students
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/change.html" Curricular change, resistance, and leadership: making significant curricular changes requires a complex, thoughtful change model that is based on research and experience
This paper describes our efforts to implement some of these ideas.
Design cycle
A fundamental issue in these project-based courses is to help students develop a systematic approach to engineering design. A design cycle was proposed in the previous paper as part of the Project Handbook, provided to each student ADDIN EN.CITE Hadgraft200611411444Hadgraft, R. G.Project Handbook200615 Aug 2006MelbourneRMIT Universityhttp://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/eng/beng0001/CivilChem/scenic/schooldocs/project%20handbook%202006.pdf(Hadgraft 2006). The updated version of the design cycle is presented below (Figure 1).
Students see that design (engineering problem solving) proceeds through some well-defined stages.
They also see that important outputs from each stage are presentations and brief reports. These mimic the sorts of communication with a senior engineer that would be happening in any engineering office. They also serve to provide many opportunities through the semester for feedback from the tutors (and from the rest of the class).
The reports developed during the research phase are discussed in more detail below.
Semester Plan
Staff produced a detailed plan that showed what students needed to do each week lecture topics, tutorial activities and homework activities.
We found that the students rarely looked at the tutorial plan outside of class. We are now favouring a briefer (two page) plan that sets out key events and assessment due dates. Staff then engage each tutorial class in a discussion around what needs to be done for the next week.
Project Scope
Students write a brief outline of the intended scope of work for their project as part of their own planning processes. The intention is that they put in their own words what needs to be done by the end of the semester. This is usually a couple of pages and includes a Gantt chart of the major activities. This is basically chapter one of their final report.
EMBED Mindjet.MindManager.Document
Figure 1 Engineering Design Process
Cooperative Research
Our plan in 2005, repeated in 2006, to strengthen the research output of the class has worked extremely well. Students work in pairs to research one topic around sustainable design, eg heritage issues and planning processes, flora and fauna, water quality and conservation, construction materials and embodied energy, energy conservation, etc. Each pair produces a 500 word issues paper to which the whole class has access.
From the 12-15 issues papers, each group of 4 students then produces a 1500 summary of all the issues that they will need to address in their design. This paper forms chapter two of their final report. This process requires a modest time commitment from each student, but results in the class having access to a range of information on which to base their design. Since there were seven tutorial classes this past semester, students actually had access to seven versions of each of the briefing papers, providing a rich source of information from which to synthesise the summary paper. A requirement of this summary paper is for them to define the selection criteria they will use in their choice of a preferred alternative.
Staff comment
Their research skills are still severely limited solely to the internet, and they dont even do that very well. As with references, they say they want proper instruction, but it has to have marks assigned and it has to happen in class time. I think the only thing to do is to make a trip to the library a hurdle for passing. Additionally I think the first assignment or two should be structured such that they may not use any electronic references; journals, newsprint and books only (though explain that they can use the internet to find these types of materials).
Referencing
Getting students to reference correctly seems to be an amazingly difficult task. Despite this being covered in school and in the Project Handbook and being explained in lectures, many still fail to deliver the required detail in their references.
Many students complained that in the beginning it wasnt clear to them how to do the referencing. One tutor developed a simple handout with examples from the Librarys referencing tutorial. They said that this sheet was good because it had clear examples. Upon pointing out that it was just copied and pasted from the RMIT Library website that they had been shown weeks before, they just kind of stared blankly and mumbled.
Students said it would be good if they were forced to go to the library to learn this stuff, but noted that it should be A) worth marks and B) during tutorial/lecture time and not during their own time. A follow-up assignment requiring them to find one or two examples of a series of different types of references worked well and they were happy because it just gave them one simple task. This should be done at the beginning of the semester. The need for proper referencing is also integrated into other assignments and courses and is an explicit criterion for assessment in many courses.
Groupwork and Peer Assessment
Groupwork is a perennial problem, with most groups working fairly well, but with a few individuals not doing their share. A series of staged peer assessment and feedback sessions integrated into the semester have reduced the problems in this area. The peer assessment form is attached as an appendix. It asks students to rate, first themselves, and then the other group members on 5 criteria:
Leadership and Initiative
Involvement, engagement, enthusiasm
Time and effort
Quality of work
Communication skills
They use scores of Good (+1), Satisfactory (0) and Not satisfactory (-1) for a total score from -5 to +5. They are then asked to provide two positive comments and one area for improvement for each person, including themselves.
This process is used once or twice during the semester as formative feedback between group members. An overall class discussion then summarises key positives and negatives on the board for all to see. Tutors collect the forms and discuss concerns with students given poor ratings by their group members.
At the end of the semester, students again rate each other, this time as a summative process of the success of the groupwork. Tutors may adjust individual marks on the basis of the peer scores.
Staff comment
Overall, some people were happy with their groups and got things out of the experience and enjoyed working with a range of people; while students unhappy with their groups didnt like it. It seems that some of the students were really against groupwork as thats not what they perceive engineering work to be, so perhaps further effort can be made to really explain/establish how it is that engineers work!
Connecting the Lectures and Project
One serious point of contention is the lack of connectedness between the lecture (environmental principles) and the tutorial (project work). Mostly they seem to feel that because the tutorial focuses on other things, they dont get enough help on the lecture material (as other tutorials give). Suggestions for improvement include: making specific comments in the lecture about the tutorial work, reviewing lecture material in the tutorial, having specific lecture semester outlines to aid in the formulation of a cohesive unit of information and setting specific tutorial activities based on the lectures.
In the project, students were required to produce an Environmental Effects Statement as a final outcome of the semesters work. This required them to bring together much of their learning from the lectures and it produced some excellent examples, considering these are first semester, first year students.
Report Writing
The students indicated that more instruction be given as to how to write a report. Of course pointing out where it is included in the Project Handbook wasnt good enough. At the beginning of the semester, perhaps time should be spent on report anatomy, and then refer back over the course of the semester, highlighting elements of the final report they are expected to complete for illustration.
Logbooks
Many students struggle to identify the purpose of keeping a logbook and even more havent been able to see why they need to reflect on their work. A more structured, design file approach has provided better results in this regard, with even more improvements planned for semester two this year (to be reported at the conference). This links to competency PE3.2(e) from Engineers Australias Stage 1 Competency Standards:
Ability to maintain a professional journal and records and to produce clear and well-constructed engineering documents such as progress reports, project reports, reports of investigations, proposals, designs, briefs and technical directions ADDIN EN.CITE Engineers Australia200412412412Engineers Australia,Guide to Assessment of Eligibility for Membership (Stage 1 Competency)28 Aug 20062004http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=0446A3D5-B812-B0F4-4B66-8AF85D4C337B&siteName=ieaust(Engineers Australia 2004)
Staff comment
Logbooks out, design files in! Weekly reflections, notes, thoughts, research and findings, work; it should all be there. I also think student generated project (semester) plans should be necessary (including meeting times and student work breakdowns and responsibilities).
Grading
Students seemed fairly happy with the grading system, though a few indicated that they would have been happier with more marks allocated to the final report. It is also clear that marks (or perhaps the threat of losing marks) are just about the only incentive they respond to.
Evaluation
In 2006, for the first time, RMIT introduced compulsory surveys for all courses. The results for this course, CIVE1186, in 2006 are summarised below.
Main points from the written comments:
Discussions and debates in lectures and tutorials were good.
Lecture notes are very comprehensive and useful.
Field trip was really useful.
Course content is useful practice and focused in the real world.
Lecturer and tutors are helpful.
Groupwork in tutorials is really good.
Public speaking practice is good.
Good insights into actual projects (and their environmental consequences).
Areas for improvement:
3 hour lecture too long.
More field work.
Work overload in tutorials.
More opportunity for individual work.
More connection between lectures and tutorials.
In terms of the quantitative data (n=102), highlights included (with % agreement or strong agreement):
Facilities (75%)
Relevant learning (63%)
I can actively participate (58%)
Relevant assessment (57%)
Appropriate amount of work (56%)
And lowlights included:
Staff put a lot of time into commenting on my work (22%)
Web-based materials are effective (23%)
Teaching staff motivate me to do my best work (24%)
Confidence in tackling unfamiliar problems (27%)
Staff made a real effort to understand my difficulties (27%)
Theres some food for thought here for next time. The perennial issue of providing students with enough feedback and commentary on their work is hard to resolve.
When the survey was repeated in the tutorials rather than the lectures, the results for the last five points improved to 69% or more, suggesting that much of the frustration students were experiencing occurred from our inability to properly connect the lectures and the tutorials.
General Conclusions
We think that the CIVE1186 course offers a good framework in which the students can develop several valuable skills. If the objectives were to remain the same, some plans for improvement include:
Report
Both the lecture and the tutorial should stress the project approach producing a final report out of elements crafted during the semester. A short discussion of the anatomy of the report (summary, Table of Contents, introduction, options, criteria, analysis, conclusions) and then discuss the semester plan in those terms, thereby connecting the phases directly to the final report and the semesters work.
Research and Referencing
The first research assignment (this semesters case would be the issues paper) should perhaps be more technical and specific and work in research skills and referencing (perhaps no internet references allowed). This can solidify reference and writing convention expectations early on for the students.
Project Phases
From this point it would be a matter of jumping into the project, with emphasis placed on the phases (in this case the research phase) and guiding the students. Students then proceed on to the creative, analysis and decision phases. By being clear with the students why it is important, and how it fits into not only the project requirements (i.e. the client will need this information, etc.) but also as a specific section of the final report, they will, hopefully, see the value of each phase.
Presentations
Public speaking and presentations are a must, and the review board debate was very well received. Perhaps a guest (another lecturer, tutor or external individual, professional or otherwise) could pick a winner for some bonus points for that team, promoting preparation even better.
Courtesy
Also its been mentioned that professional courtesy needs to be stressed to the students from day one. This needs to include not only listening and not talking during lectures or when others are speaking, but also maintaining good contact with the tutors (letting us know theyll miss a class so can they turn late work in tomorrow as opposed to waiting until after the fact). Also e-mail etiquette, proper grammar and spelling, signing their name, and resizing attachments when appropriate.
Finally
This paper describes the challenges of project work in sustainability in first year with civil and environmental engineers. The big challenges are in the contextual skills that they need project management, groupwork, report writing, referencing and presentations. A Project Handbook has been prepared to help with these things, but the challenge is to get them to read it! Further project courses provide opportunity to continue to refine these skills throughout the program.
In terms of the seven key ideas set out by the Foundation Coalition:
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/collaborative_learning.html" Active and cooperative learning: We have students actively involved in a set project in semester one and a team-choice project in semester two, which seems to work quite well.
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/minorities.html" Increasing the participation of women and under-represented minorities in engineering: There is not yet any sign of the project work increasing the number of women who come into engineering, though this is an area that we could be emphasising during school visits and open days.
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/student_teams.html" Student teams in engineering: We feel that the teamwork is mostly working pretty well, with students provided with opportunities to provide feedback to each other during the semester, to head off severe problems in group function.
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/technology_enabled.html" Technology-enabled learning: The Universitys Online Learning environment is providing an opportunity for students to share research in much the same way that a knowledge management system might be used in a commercial engineering organisation. Some groups are also choosing to use the online environment to store their group documents and discussion. There is obviously much scope in the future for expansion of these facilities, eg including a wiki facility in 2007.
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/assessment_evaluation.html" Continuous improvement through assessment, evaluation, and feedback: We have used a suite of assessment tasks to build the project skills needed b y our students. We use peer assessment both formatively and summatively to help students provide feedback to each other. Finally, we use a course evaluation form to examine how students perceive the course as a whole.
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/curriculum_integration.html" Curriculum integration and inclusive learning communities: Within both the civil and environmental engineering programs, there is a continuous sequence of project courses designed to integrate the curriculum. These courses provide the basic project skills. They also provide an opportunity to bring the students together in first year to get to know each other and to begin to build a learning community.
HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/change.html" Curricular change, resistance, and leadership: In 2002, RMIT embarked on a university-wide move to capability-driven curricula. This necessitated change in the Schools engineering programs. The new programs commenced in 2004 and 2005. The support required for this type of change is significant and will be discussed in subsequent publications.
References
ADDIN EN.REFLIST Engineers Australia. (2004). "Guide to Assessment of Eligibility for Membership (Stage 1 Competency)." Retrieved 28 Aug 2006, from HYPERLINK "http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=0446A3D5-B812-B0F4-4B66-8AF85D4C337B&siteName=ieaust" http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=0446A3D5-B812-B0F4-4B66-8AF85D4C337B&siteName=ieaust.
Foundation Coalition. (2006). "Foundation Coalition website." Retrieved 30 Oct 2006, from HYPERLINK "http://www.foundationcoalition.org/" http://www.foundationcoalition.org/.
Goricanec, J. L., R. G. Hadgraft, et al. (2005). Problematic project work in a first year course sustainability for civil/infrastructure and environmental engineers. Global Colloquium in Engineering Education, Sydney, UQ.
Hadgraft, R. G. (2006). Project Handbook. Melbourne, RMIT University.
Appendix
Group participation peer assessment
Assessor: Date:
Assess each of the following criteria for your group members and yourself. Score each person on a scale from G=Good, S=Satisfactory, NS=Not Satisfactory, for each criterion and then compute an overall score using G=+1, S=0, NS=-1. Do the overall scores match your intuition?
Add two positive comments and one area for improvement for each person, including yourself.
Group memberCriteriaLeadership and InitiativeInvolvement, engagement, enthusiasmTime and effortQuality of workCommunication skillsOverall scoreComments
2 Positive comments (P1 & P2)
1 Improvement (Imp)SelfG
S
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