By the Students, for the students: A New Paradigm for Better Achieving the Learning Objectives

Motivating students is one of the main daily challenges of academia. In today’s era, higher education institutions are facing a new generation of college students who are harder to motivate with old tedious methodologies such as long lectures or outdated long lab activities. As a result, the process of transferring knowledge is inefficient and cumbersome. Some of the signs that have been observed through the classroom with old technologies are higher rate of absentees; low interaction between lecturer and students; very few interactions among the students in the class; and sometime no interaction among the different sections of the same course with the same subjects. This study is attempting to share some of the ground experience that has been achieved through the idea of transferring knowledge by our new methodology that we call it “by the students, for the students” in one of our freshman course entitled “ET 100: Introduction to Engineering Technology”. Through this methodology, we not only achieved cooperation between students and lecturer but also we have achieved and promoted the cooperation and constructive competition among the students within one section and among the different sections of the same course with related topics. The gist of our methodology is about motivating our freshman students in College of Technology at Eastern Michigan University and creating a continuous thirst of knowledge that not only drives individuals but also drives each team and the whole class. Moreover, this paper will attempt to compare the outcome of previous methodologies that had been used in “ET100, introduction to Engineering technology”, with the outcome of the new introduced methodology in the same class. Introduction The traditional lecture methods in which professors talk and students listen have dominated college and university classrooms [1]. Although these methodologies have been widely used to teach college students, they are not adequate for new generation of college students who are intelligent, talented and energetic [2-3]. Today’s students need to do more than just “sit and listen” to the tedious lectures. They need to actively be involved in instructional activities; continuously be challenged by exiting problems, and work in a team [1, 2, 7]. It has been reported that students’ retention of the information will not be gained only by receiving it verbally or visually. It rather needs to be utilized toward problem solving [2, 8-10]. P ge 23264.2 Active learning has been defined [6] as the process of having students engaged in some activities that forces them to reflect upon ideas and how they are using those ideas. This requires students to regularly assess their own degree of understanding and skill at handling concepts or problems for attainment of knowledge by participating in project activities in a particular discipline. In another words, the process of keeping students mentally and often physically active in their learning through activities that involve them in gathering information, thinking, and problem solving is known as active learning. Some of the advantages of utilizing active learning are [2-5, 11-13]: Increased information retention, Increased student-faculty interaction, Improved student-student interaction, Improved academic achievements, Enhanced higher-level thinking skills, Improved teamwork, Improved attitude towards the subject and motivation to learn. In [9], Paulson, et al. have used active learning concepts by requesting students to generate Quiz/Test Questions. This activity will encourage students to think more deeply about the course materials and explore major themes, comparison of views, applications, and higher-order thinking skills [2]. Chatmon et al. [2] use virtual hands-on laboratory exercises, online cooperative group discussions, thinkpair-share activities, student-generated laboratory exercises, and student-led current event reviews in information assurance courses to advocate the active learning. One of the main finding of this study suggests that the active learning activities are welcomed by students as they have a sense of being involved in their learning experience. Engineering Technology is one of the popular fields in College of Technology at Eastern Michigan University that provides wide range of program of studies for students interested in this profession. In the process of reviewing and updating the curriculum, it was revealed that the courses which were taught using old teaching methodologies, especially freshman courses, had higher rate of absentees, low interaction between lecturer and students, very few interaction among the students in the class, and sometime no interaction among the different sections of the same course. As a result, in Winter semester of 2012, we decided to change the teaching practice that was used in one of the freshman courses to find the effect of a new teaching methodology on these issues. Thus, active learning and project based was used as a core methodological framework for one of our freshman classes, ET100: Introduction to Engineering Technology. In this paper, the assessment and outcomes of this successful implemented methodology is presented. P ge 23264.3 Methodology The freshman course, ET 100: Introduction to Engineering Technology, is one of the courses that used to be taught fully theatrical with the concept of “sit and listen” to the lecture. In this teaching practice, the following characteristics were present: Low interactions between lecturer and students; Very few interactions among the students in the class; Sometime no interactions among the different sections of the same course; No team work, Low students’ motivation and satisfaction In order to improve the course outcomes, it was decided to change the methodology and utilize active and project based concepts in this course. Thus, the class time was divided into two parts of lectures and lab activities. In teaching this course, we implemented a model as presented in figure 1, which is made of two main parts that define both students and lecturer roles. Figure 1: By the Students, For the Students Model The Student Individual Activities consist of: 1. Individual Learning: at the end of covering each chapter of the textbook, each student is required to submit an individual assignment on the subject of the chapter. P ge 23264.4 2. Individual Assessment: Each student is individually evaluated through two exams, which assess the student’s knowledge of the materials presented in the textbook, lectures, and hands-on activities. The Student Team Activities consist of: 1. Team Lecturing: through this activity, students are provided with an opportunity to present a lecture on one of the class subjects. In order to provide the paradigm of by the students and for the students, students are forming their own teams. Then, each team is required to select a topic for class lecturing from the textbook. 2. Team Exam Designing: Each team is required to create a list of 20 questions on the topic of their presentation. These questions will be used as a database for selecting the exam questions. 3. Team Collaboration Learning: researchers believe that students can learn through doing better than just reading [2]. To accomplish this task, two types of hand-on activities are utilized. First one is three lab activities based on LEGO Mindstorm kits. During the first four weeks of the class, students are provided with lab instructions for three activities that are designed to familiarize them with construction, control, and programming of robots. In these activities, students become familiar with each components of the kit, learn how to construct robotic structures, and learn how to program their robots. After completing each activity, each team is required to write and submit a report on their activity and accomplishments. The second activity is a team project. This is one of the key elements of the student active learning strategy and has widely been used to enhance learning experience of students [2, 5]. For this activity, by the end of the fourth week of the class, each team is required to prepare and submit a project proposal for evaluation and approval by the instructor. The project proposal should consist of the following items: Cover page: title of project, team members name, course code and name Summary of proposed project Objectives of the project Detail description of the projects Anticipated outcomes Timeline for completion References Each team through collaboration and dialog between the team members identifies and proposes a project. Different robotic projects are proposed for this activity. Each team is required to prepare and submit a final project report along with a PowerPoint presentation on the last day of the course. P ge 23264.5 4. Team Ethics Activity: Each team is assigned an ethical case study by the instructor. The team members have to prepare a PowerPoint presentation for it and present and act the case in the class by the middle of the semester. 5. Team Communication Skills Learning: Each team members is required to demonstrate his/her collaborative communication skills through team oral presentation of their ethics case study and their team oral project report. They also are required to provide collaborative written reports for their lab reports and their final project. The final project report should consist of the following sections: Cover page that include title of the project, team members name, course code and name Summary of the project Objectives of the project Detail description of the project that should include complete Labview programs, pictures and figures, list of parts and material used, any drawing, if applicable Data and result of any testing done Discussion of Obstacles encountered and Outcomes achieved Contribution made by each team members Conclusions and Recommendations References Al