期刊名称：Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association
出版年度：2015
出版社：The Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA)
摘要：Active learning is a pedagogical methodology that research has shown both engages and motivates students. This paper reports on one professor’s work to infuse active learning into his first year thermodynamics course. Based on the results of a pilot study aimed at exploring the use of active learning in a first-year thermodynamics course to engage students and improve their learning, a problem-solving learning approach was designed for a subsequent offering of the course. Mini-lectures were interspersed with tutorials, and active learning and pedagogical tools and strategies were employed with the intent to increase student engagement and enhance learning. At the conclusion of this course, a student exit survey and a student focus group were conducted, and students’ course marks were compared to their cumulative grade point averages to examine their course performance. Findings showed that students were engaged by the active learning design and evidence of learning was found. This is the second phase of a practical action research study to turn a traditional, lecture-based course into an active learning arena for first year engineering students at the University of Manitoba.
