Project-based learning as a contributing factor to graduates’ work readiness

Jollands, Margaret; Jolly, Lesley; Molyneaux, T

doi:10.1080/03043797.2012.665848

Cited by 127 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The inclusion of PBL in engineering curricula is considered one of the most efficient ways to enhance student learning, and it has been recognized as an effective way to prepare students for professional careers (Helle et al, 2006;Jollands et al, 2012;Litzinger et al, 2011;Prince & Felder, 2006). According to Lu (2007), students who participate in activities focused on PBL are more participative and proactive, communicate better, know how to work in groups, and stand out as top professionals, since they are able to better apply the acquired knowledge to solve a professional problem.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Project-Based Learning in the first year of an Industrial Engineering Program: lessons learned and challenges

Pereira

Barreto

Pazeti

2017

Prod.

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The Industrial Engineering Program at the School of Engineering of Lorena at the University of São Paulo has been using the Project-Based Learning (PBL) methodology in the first term of the academic year since 2013. This article describes the experience of the first four years of the use, the lessons learned, and the remaining challenges. The use of PBL has been widely recognized by the students as one of the Industrial Engineering program's differentiating features. Lessons have been learned continuously and have been subsequently incorporated to the application of the project. Much has been refined during this time frame but there is much more to be done. Some challenges persist, such as: (i) improving interaction with the course of Calculus I; (ii) enhancing peer evaluation; (iii) expanding the project coordination team, and (iv) refining tools for data collection and analysis Keywords

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Project-Based Learning in the first year of an Industrial Engineering Program: lessons learned and challenges

Pereira

Barreto

Pazeti

2017

Prod.

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“…In consideration of engaging in intentional educational experiences, the epistemologies elaborate what has long been referred to within educational science as readiness: having the capacities to engage effectively and learn from what is experienced (Jollands, Jolly, & Molyneaux, 2012;Billett, 2015). So, taking the vignette provided at the beginning of this chapter, the following information could be speculated.…”

Section: Epistemology and Personal Epistemologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personal Epistemologies and Disciplinarity in the Workplace: Implications for International Students in Higher Education

Barton

Billett

2017

Professional and Practice-Based Learning

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Workplace experiences for international students undertaking higher education programs are important aspects of their university experience. This is because many of the programs in which they are enrolled are directed towards particular occupations. Nevertheless, these workplace experiences can be both engaging and daunting for all, but perhaps no more so than for international students, who may be unfamiliar with Australian workplace mores and practices, and therefore less able to understand and negotiate with them than their domestic counterparts. Not only do international students have to become familiar with the requirements of their selected profession but also need to understand and negotiate unfamiliar cultural environments. These students often have to engage in complex and demanding learning processes when engaging in work placements, perhaps more so than their domestic peers. Because of these discipline-based and workplace environmental challenges, it is necessary for these students and their mentors or supervisors to try and effectively mediate their participation and learning in the work placements. If all of those involved in work placements are aware of these factors, then the experiences and outcomes should potentially be more beneficial for all parties (i.e., students, supervisors, university staff, and workplaces). These issues are explored in this chapter through the notions of disciplinarity, which attends to the epistemological nuances of particular study or knowledge areas and how students develop skills as disciplinary professionals. With a focus on international students, the elaborations of these issues are explored through consideration of interculturalisation and how both the experiences and experiencing of international students impacts upon the success of their work placements. Using these concepts as explanatory bases stands to permit the illumination and elaboration of the complexity of factors and processes occurring as these students learn about, and participate in, their selected professional discipline and the cultural environment of its practice. International students and work placementsThe social work degree program prided itself in being highly applied. In the second week of the program, the students engaged in their first practicum within a social welfare agency. This was the first of a series of work placements across the degree program that aimed to provide experiences of social work and integrate these experiences into what was taught in the university setting as a central element of its educational design. However, this design created particular challenges for international students. Many of these students had only arrived in Australia the week prior to the program's commencement. Many of these students also came from countries that did not have a social welfare system, or social workers. They were largely uninformed about what social workers do, for what purposes and how they went about their work. Hence, there were conflicts between the design of this program ...

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“…A gap in recent graduate's ability to apply their knowledge in an industrial setting has led to approaches which integrate more project-based learning 6 . Specifically, graduates lack decisionmaking skills 7 and skills related to working in open and collaborative settings 8 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-evaluation of Design Decision-making Skills Gained Through Student Generated Learning Aids

Jensen

Beck

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

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This paper presents the findings from research in improving undergraduate engineering design decision-making skills. This work is motivated by the need to provide students with more designdecision making experience to enable them to be ready to engineer upon graduation. In this research, third and fourth year undergraduate mechanical engineering students were guided through the process of designing learning aid prototypes to be used in general engineering education. Students were encouraged to use advanced technologies such as 3D printing and virtual simulation to realize their concepts. This project assisted students in identifying their own and typical misconceptions and devise tools which corrected those cognitive errors. A series of selfevaluation methods were used to identify the student's perception of their decision-making skill levels. Over the multiple categories of design decision-making skills examined, there were various levels of change in the student's perceived skill level. These results identify some of the challenges in using perceived skills assessment as a means for evaluating education reform efficacy. Inconsistencies between student reporting improvements in categories but also reporting reduced skill levels indicate that students may grow in their understanding of their own skill limitations through the project activities. Overall, this work demonstrates a situated cognitive approach to teaching design decision-making in an authentic environment and presents metrics for evaluating the efficacy of that approach in terms of perception. The objective of this work is to enable graduating students to be confident in their abilities to make design decisions in an industrial setting at the beginning of their careers.

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Project-based learning as a contributing factor to graduates’ work readiness

Cited by 127 publications

References 6 publications

Application of Project-Based Learning in the first year of an Industrial Engineering Program: lessons learned and challenges

Application of Project-Based Learning in the first year of an Industrial Engineering Program: lessons learned and challenges

Personal Epistemologies and Disciplinarity in the Workplace: Implications for International Students in Higher Education

Self-evaluation of Design Decision-making Skills Gained Through Student Generated Learning Aids

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