ERIC Number: EJ1061353
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Mar
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0268-3679
EISSN: N/A
Using Cognitive Load Theory to Interpret Student Difficulties with a Problem-Based Learning Approach to Engineering Education: A Case Study
Peters, Michael
Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications, v34 n1 p53-62 Mar 2015
This article reports on an investigation with first year undergraduate Product Design and Management students within a School of Engineering and Applied Science. The students at the time of this investigation had studied fundamental engineering science and mathematics for one semester. The students were given an open ended, ill-formed problem which involved designing a simple bridge to cross a river. They were given a talk on problem solving and given a rubric to follow, if they chose to do so. They were not given any formulae or procedures needed in order to resolve the problem. In theory, they possessed the knowledge to ask the right questions in order to make assumptions but, in practice, it turned out they were unable to link their a priori knowledge to resolve this problem. They were able to solve simple beam problems when given closed questions. The results show they were unable to visualize a simple bridge as an augmented beam problem and ask pertinent questions and hence formulate appropriate assumptions in order to offer resolutions.
Descriptors: Difficulty Level, Cognitive Processes, Undergraduate Students, Design, Engineering Education, Problem Solving, Knowledge Level, Prior Learning, Visualization, Questioning Techniques, Problem Based Learning, Case Studies
Oxford University Press. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, UK. Tel: +44-1865-353907; Fax: +44-1865-353485; e-mail: jnls.cust.serv@oxfordjournals.org; Web site: http://teamat.oxfordjournals.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A