scholarly journals Improving Student Retention and Soft Skills: Faculty Experiences on Transitioning to Active Learning Approaches on First-Year Engineering Programs at Universidad Panamericana

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
María del Carmen Garcia-Higuera ◽  
Rocio Chavez-Telleria ◽  
Armando Alemán-Juárez ◽  
Isabel Joaquina García
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Faculty Experiences ◽  
Engineering Programs

scholarly journals Improving Academic Performance and Retention of First-Year Biology Students through a Scalable Peer Mentorship Program

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Wilton ◽  
Daniel Katz ◽  
Anthony Clairmont ◽  
Eduardo Gonzalez-Nino ◽  
Kathy R. Foltz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Peer Mentoring ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
First Year ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Mentorship Program ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Peer Mentorship

This study evaluates the performance of a near-peer mentoring program for first-year biology majors. The program’s intention is to improve student retention generally, and academic and soft skills more specifically. The effect of the program was investigated via ethnographic methods, a program-specific survey, and regression analyses.

scholarly journals A combination of active learning strategies improves student academic outcomes in first-year paramedic bioscience

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Puspha Sinnayah ◽  
Joseph A. Rathner ◽  
Daniel Loton ◽  
Rudi Klein ◽  
Peter Hartley
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Inquiry Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Guided Inquiry ◽  
Active Learning Strategies ◽  
Assessment Outcomes ◽  
Small Team

Bioscience is a foundational unit (subject) of undergraduate allied health degree programs, providing students the scientific basis underpinning their clinical practice. However, despite its significance, bioscience is a difficult academic hurdle for many students to master. The introduction of active learning strategies, including small team-based guided-inquiry learning approaches, has been shown to significantly reduce this hurdle and improve assessment outcomes for the learner. Guided team-based activities can aid in this approach by also building broader skills and capabilities, like teamwork and communication, as well as subject-specific knowledge and skills, thereby positively influencing student assessment outcomes. This paper details the redesign and evaluation of two first-year Bioscience for Paramedics units with the introduction of guided-inquiry learning, as well as other active learning strategies, and assesses their impact on student performance. Results indicate that active learning used within a classroom and in the large lecture theater setting improved students’ grades with positive student perception of their learning experience.

scholarly journals Managing PBL difficulties in an industrial engineering and management program

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela Alves ◽  
Rui Sousa ◽  
Francisco Moreira ◽  
M. Alice Carvalho ◽  
Elisabete Cardoso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Industrial Engineering ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
First Semester ◽  
New Perspective

Purpose: Project-Based Learning (PBL) is considered to be an active learning methodology which can be used to develop both technical and transversal competences in engineering programs. This methodology demands a great deal of work effort from the students and also from the teachers and it requires a meticulous plan and a well-managed project as well. These activities go far beyond the normal activities in traditional lectures, enabling to outpace the difficulties that spur along the way that may be both complex and demotivating. This methodology has been implemented in the Integrated Master Degree on Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM), at one public university in Portugal, since the 2004/2005 academic year. The aim of this paper is to identify and discuss the main difficulties of the implementation of PBL, mainly from the teachers’ perspectives. Additionally, some effective strategies will be recommended to overcome such difficulties.Design/methodology/approach: The perceptions of the teachers were collected through a survey based on six main themes. The participants in the study include eight teachers from the five courses of the first semester of the first year of the IEM program involved in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 editions.Findings: Integration of courses in the project; student assessment; growing number of students in each team and the need of physical spaces for them; and compartmentalized knowledge has emerged as the main difficulties. To overcome these difficulties some key strategies were recommended.Originality/value: A new perspective based on course teachers' views and experiences will deepen the understanding of the problems and provide inputs for the development of strategies that may improve the effectiveness of PBL and introduce changes for its successful implementation. These strategies are intended to be transferable to other contexts, as most of the problems and constraints are common to other active learning approaches.

scholarly journals Developing soft Skills through Active Learning: Storytelling Concrete Experiences through a MOOC

2021 ◽  
pp. 364-373
Author(s):  
Alessandra Tomasini ◽  
Valeria Baudo ◽  
Deborah Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Formal Learning ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Curriculum Innovation ◽  
Digital Skills ◽  
Learning Through Experience ◽  
Innovation In Higher Education ◽  
Opening Up

The eLene4Life project aims to support curriculum innovation in higher education (HE) through the development of active learning approaches for transversal skills, with the ultimate aim of improving students’ employability. The MOOC “Active Learning for Soft Skills Development”, one of the project outputs, has been put in place as a space for learning through experience sharing and discussion. The MOOC aims at fostering the exchange of results achieved by instructors after the concrete experimentation of active learning methods and at increasing their sensibility and knowledge of the most effective modalities through which to implement those methods. This paper outlines the genesis of the MOOC. Its three main objectives are: (a) collecting and valorising different voices of the teachers who directly experimented one or more methodologies of active learning in their classroom (most of them during the pandemic); (b) embracing and sustaining experiences, as well as addressing doubts coming from a wider audience interested in putting into practice such methods oriented to soft and digital skills’ development; (c) offering a non-formal learning opportunity in line with European indications about micro-credentialing through developing synergies with the ECCOE project (European Credit Clearinghouse for Opening up Education).

First-Year Engineering Computing Courses in Canadian Engineering Programs

1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Maw ◽  
Janice Miller Young ◽  
Alexis Morris
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Digital Computation ◽  
Pedagogical Philosophies ◽  
Introductory Computing

Most Canadian engineering students take a computing course in their first year that introduces them to digital computation. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board does not specify the language(s) that can or should be used for instruction. As a result, a variety of languages are used across Canada. This study examines which languages are used in degree-granting institutions, currently and in the recent past. It also examines why institutions have chosen the languages that they currently use. In addition to the language used in instruction, the types and hours of instruction are also analyzed. Methods of instruction and evaluation are compared, as well as the pedagogical philosophies of the different programs with respect to introductory computing. Finally, a comparison of the expected value of this course to graduates is also presented. We found a more diverse landscape for introductory computing courses than anticipated, in most respects. The guiding ethos at most institutions is skill and knowledge development, especially around problem solving in an engineering context. The methods to achieve this are quite varied, and so are the languages employed in such courses. Most programs currently use C/C++, Matlab, VB and/or Python.

THE ANALYSIS OF NURSING STUDENT SOFT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN LECTURE AND PROBLEM BASED LEARNING APPROACHES 2011

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Hilman Syarif
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Students ◽  
Nursing Student ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
P Value ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Soft Skill ◽  
Student Centered Learning ◽  
Hard Skills ◽  
Significant Difference

Introduction: Student Centered Learning (SCL) is an effective method to develop student's soft skills and hard skills which are very important to support their successful carrier later. This research was conducted to identify the differences of developed soft skills between students who learn with PBL method and lecturing method. Methods: Descriptive comparative method was used in this study. The samples consisted of 15 students who learned with PBL method and 15 students who learned with lecturing method. The sample for this research was selected by random sampling method. Results: The result showed that the average of student's soft skills score in PBL method was 122.63, while student's soft skills score in lecturing method was 116.27. Discussion & Conclusion: There was significant difference of student's soft skills in PBL method and lecturing method (p value = 0.038; α = 0.05). This study recommends nursing program management, faculty of medicine at the University of Syiah Kuala keeps PBL method running and develops other methods which facilitate hard skills and soft skills are development. Keywords: nursing students, soft skill, PBL

Molecular Modeling as the Spark for Active Learning Approaches for Interdisciplinary Biology Teaching

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Taly ◽  
Francesco Nitti ◽  
Marc Baaden ◽  
samuela pasquali
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Molecular Modeling ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Poster Presentation ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Origin Of Life

<div>We present here an interdisciplinary workshop on the subject of biomolecules offered to undergraduate and high-school students with the aim of boosting their interest toward all areas of science contributing to the study of life. The workshop involves Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science and Biology. Based on our own areas of research, molecular modeling is chosen as central axis as it involves all disciplines. In order to provide a strong biological motivation for the study of the dynamics of biomolecules, the theme of the workshop is the origin of life. </div><div>All sessions are built around active pedagogies, including games, and a final poster presentation.</div>

Transformative Learning in Mastery-Oriented CS0 Course

2021 ◽  
pp. 234763112110072
Author(s):  
Srinivasan Lakshminarayanan ◽  
N. J. Rao ◽  
G. K. Meghana
Keyword(s):  
Transformative Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Guided Discovery ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Transformative Experiences ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Cognitive Levels ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Core Course

The introductory programming course, commonly known as CS1 and offered as a core course in the first year in all engineering programs in India, is unique because it can address higher cognitive levels, metacognition and some aspects of the affective domain. It can provide much needed transformative experiences to students coming from a system of school education that is dominantly performance-driven. Unfortunately, the CS1 course, as practiced in almost all engineering programs, is also performance-driven because of a variety of compulsions. This paper suggests that the inclusion of a course CS0 can bring about transformative learning that can potentially make a significant difference in the quality of learning in all subsequent engineering courses. The suggested instruction design of this course takes the advantage of the unique features of a course in programming. The proposed CS0 course uses “extreme apprenticeship” and “guided discovery” methods of instruction. The effectiveness of these instruction methods was established through the use of the thematic analysis, a well-known qualitative research method, and the associated coding of transformative learning experiences and instruction components.

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