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Making the Abstract Concrete: A Project-Based Laboratory Activity on Concrete Manufacturing for Civil Engineering Students.
- Source :
- International Journal of Engineering Education; 2022 Part A, Vol. 38 Issue 5, p1443-1457, 15p
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- We explored whether a project-based approach and experiential-learning activity would improve learning of complex concepts related to concrete manufacturing in the workplace. We designed a group-based laboratory activity, followed by student-peer teaching and marking and a final report writing task, based on the job of a concrete technician/engineer in a concrete production plant. An action research approach was used to assess student satisfaction (N = 269), their perception of the learning experience, and the impact on their grades. There were four data sources: Observations made by lecturers and TAs, standardised student evaluations, a targeted survey, and course grades. We correlated measures of student peerteaching with academic output. Students were satisfied overall with the activity and their perceptions of experiential-learning were positive. The student peer-teaching activity needs improvements. Despite extra online-learning resources provided to compensate for Covid disruptions, students were more satisfied with the in-person activity than with the on-line counterpart. Our positive results suggest that student learning about concrete manufacturing improves when complex theory is integrated with practical learning activities using a project-based approach. We will further modify and integrate learning activities based on these results in our new multi-disciplinary learning spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- CONCRETE
CIVIL engineering
ENGINEERING students
STUDENT attitudes
SATISFACTION
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0949149X
- Volume :
- 38
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- Supplemental Index
- Journal :
- International Journal of Engineering Education
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 159916289