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Transformation in engineering education – a case study of remote learning experiences in China
conference contribution
posted on 2017-01-01, 00:00 authored by Van Thanh HuynhVan Thanh Huynh, Sivachandran Chandrasekaran, John LongJohn Long, Y Guo, Ian GibsonIan GibsonA collaborative teaching program between Deakin University and Wuhan
University of Science and Technology (WUST) is a particular realization of a learning and
teaching transformation. The collaborative program aims to bring high-quality Australian
curriculum standards to mechanical engineering students in Wuhan, China. To maintain
collaborative teaching quality, the entire Deakin mechanical engineering program is
transformed to the WUST collaborative program.
This study focuses on the quality assurance of teaching in the collaborative
program when the learning and teaching process happens outside Australia. When a
Mechanical engineering program is offered at a different institution at a different time-span, it
requires different learning and teaching support as well as educational settings.
To address the first problem of insufficient equipment, we developed
experimental equipment that is portable to WUST. To tackle the problem of teaching
approaches, we implemented flipped-classroom teaching where equipping students with selflearning
skills is emphasised. Quantitative and qualitative questions were given to the
students at the end of the trimester teaching to analyse students’ experiences and
expectations on the implementation of new teaching styles. The outcome of this survey is
then fed back to the improvement process of such new teaching styles for the future
academic years of the collaborative program.
The analysed survey results give an insight into students’ perception of the
new learning and teaching approaches. The initial results show the overwhelmingly positive
reception of the project/design based approach. Obvious quantitative improvements that
have been measured are as follows: Students’ involvement in classroom/lab activities is
improved when compared to that of a previous year cohort with the same activity. The WUST
students showed improvement in terms of following along the intensive teaching/learning
schedule.
From the survey results, more than 90% of students agreed that the
group-based practical activities were most helpful towards achieving the learning goals. The
project/design-based learning activities have enhanced students learning capability of
understanding practical/theoretical prospects in this course.
University of Science and Technology (WUST) is a particular realization of a learning and
teaching transformation. The collaborative program aims to bring high-quality Australian
curriculum standards to mechanical engineering students in Wuhan, China. To maintain
collaborative teaching quality, the entire Deakin mechanical engineering program is
transformed to the WUST collaborative program.
This study focuses on the quality assurance of teaching in the collaborative
program when the learning and teaching process happens outside Australia. When a
Mechanical engineering program is offered at a different institution at a different time-span, it
requires different learning and teaching support as well as educational settings.
To address the first problem of insufficient equipment, we developed
experimental equipment that is portable to WUST. To tackle the problem of teaching
approaches, we implemented flipped-classroom teaching where equipping students with selflearning
skills is emphasised. Quantitative and qualitative questions were given to the
students at the end of the trimester teaching to analyse students’ experiences and
expectations on the implementation of new teaching styles. The outcome of this survey is
then fed back to the improvement process of such new teaching styles for the future
academic years of the collaborative program.
The analysed survey results give an insight into students’ perception of the
new learning and teaching approaches. The initial results show the overwhelmingly positive
reception of the project/design based approach. Obvious quantitative improvements that
have been measured are as follows: Students’ involvement in classroom/lab activities is
improved when compared to that of a previous year cohort with the same activity. The WUST
students showed improvement in terms of following along the intensive teaching/learning
schedule.
From the survey results, more than 90% of students agreed that the
group-based practical activities were most helpful towards achieving the learning goals. The
project/design-based learning activities have enhanced students learning capability of
understanding practical/theoretical prospects in this course.
