Supporting Team Based Learning Using Electronic Laboratory Notebooks: Perspectives From Transnational Students

Abstract

Today's engineering industries require graduates with a broad range of soft skills, which include teamwork, communication and integrity. Therefore, more accreditation bodies now recommend team-learning activities to be embedded in their engineering programmes. However, hardworking students often find group projects demotivating, especially if their contributions are not accurately reflected in their individual grades. To address these issues, we demonstrate that Electronic Laboratory Notebooks can be used to promote student collaboration and teamwork on a group project. They can also help instructors assess student contributions fairly. During our investigations, we noticed that students have used Electronic Laboratory Notebooks as social interaction tools that enable text, data, images and recorded audio to be exchanged. Consequently, the aim of this manuscript is to describe the experiences of 58 transnational undergraduate students in using six different software products for a team-based learning activity. According to our investigations, Electronic Laboratory Notebooks had a positive impact on supporting Team Based Learning in a new electronic engineering course. The outcomes of our investigations can help create effective teaching and learning resources for undergraduate students in Electronic Engineering. They can also help engineering faculty make informed decisions regarding the introduction of Electronic Laboratory Notebooks in undergraduate research activities.

Interdisciplinary Project-Based Learning: Experiences and Reflections From Teaching Electronic Engineering in China

“…Therefore, this paper also presents an evaluation of these interdisciplinary PBL exercises by exploring the experiences of both the teachers and the Chinese students who are key stakeholders in this PBL approach. As previously reported in the literature, these active learning activities have previously demonstrated favourable student feedback in the context of transnational engineering programmes with Chinese counterparts [22], [23] and we aim to demonstrate the same in this in-country context.…”

Wearable Sensors for Learning Enhancement in Higher Education

“…Lecturers and instructors, who are considered the primary source of knowledge need to be familiarised with the wearable devices and their affordances before introducing them to students. They also need to be trained and familiarised with inclusive and active teaching approaches that effectively engage the learner [ 108 , 109 ]. The last item in the implementation step to be executed is rules and regulations that are systematically arranged around the production and application of wearable devices [ 110 ].…”

Learning Enhancement in Higher Education with Wearable Technology

“…Lecturers and instructors, who are considered the primary source of knowledge need to be familiarised with the wearable devices and their affordances before introducing them to students. They also need to be trained and familiarised with inclusive and active teaching approaches that effectively engage the learner [84], [85]. The last item in the implementation step to be executed is rules and regulations that are systematically arranged around the production and application of wearable devices [86].…”