student engagement with matlab and supporting independent learning

2010 Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering Student engagement with MATLAB and supporting independent learning J A Rossiter University of Sheffield... 2010 Department

Trang 1

2010 Department of Automatic Control and Systems

Engineering

Student engagement with

MATLAB and supporting

independent learning

J A Rossiter University of Sheffield

Trang 2

requirement for most problem solving involves some level

of programming and thus familiarity with concepts such

as files, variable names, functions, inputs and outputs,

loops, conditionals, etc

Historical data suggested that even with a lot of support in terms of materials and laboratories, students found

MATLAB difficult and, of more concern, did not like it!

Clear anecdotal evidence that students wanted to be told an answer to memorise and reproduce whereas requirement was application of knowledge to solve a

new problem

Trang 3

Engineering

Summary 1

It is necessary to challenge, develop and change

student expectations of learning to help them

progress with MATLAB.

Students were not putting effort into understanding (deep learning) and thus not progressing.

Department wants students to be confident in use of MATLAB and specifically, capable of or confident in

‘independent learning’ of the MATLAB skills

required for new topics in later years

Trang 4

Engineering

Student Motivation

Integrated Curriculu

a problem.

Industry

Trang 5

Engineering

Overview of concepts used in Sheffield

• Encouraging independent learning.

• Peer assessment.

• Animations (or code) to support learning.

• Automated marking and using MATLAB in exams

(to be covered by other speakers).

Trang 6

Engineering

Fostering Independent

Learning and MATLAB

Programming Skills at the

Introductory Level

Trang 7

Engineering

Transition issues

• University is very different from school.

• Although students realise this, they still

desire the same form of ‘feedback’ and

support that school teachers offered.

• This level of individual support and

guidance is not possible and consequently many students struggle to adjust.

• Usually this is expressed as a feeling that

they get too little feedback on their work.

University: 18+

School: 5-18 years

Trang 8

Engineering

Independent learning

• Engineering graduates need to be confident, independent

learners [ This is a further part of the transition issues.]

• Typically, students are good at ‘research’ that involves

fact finding, but struggle with independent learning which requires new skills.

• Students constantly request outside validation: is it

right, what mark is that worth, etc ?

Able to acquire and validate new knowledge and

skills without a tutor and/or apply taught

knowledge to solve new problems.

N.B Spoon feeding is used for scenarios where students

expect to regurgitate precisely what they have been

taught, perhaps just changing the numbers.

Trang 9

Engineering

Cultural change

• The current generation of ‘teachers’

largely found that programming came

easily.

• The logical flow of one command following

another fitted nicely with expectations in

science and maths.

• Computing was a new opportunity and

grasped eagerly and so there were few

hang ups about grasping concepts.

• Computers could still be slow (punch

cards!) and we were probably more patient for progress.

Trang 10

Engineering

Programming is hard

• The current generation (anecdotal evidence across

the globe) find programming much harder and

less intuitive.

• One can conjecture that this is partially a

consequence of them being exposed to GUI/MENU driven interaction with computers.

• The concepts of logically building blocks, one line

following another, has not been embedded in their education.

• Students expect there to be ‘a solution’ that they

just need to memorise without understanding

‘Just tell me how to do it and I will learn it!’

Trang 11

Engineering

Summary + objectives

• How do we help students

as an independent learning task

How do we help students learn MATLAB?

(Relies on programming)

Trang 12

Trang 13

Engineering

Independent learning

In order to develop student independent learning skills,

the approach is integrated across the whole curriculum

and not piecemeal E.g.

1 Essay and peer assessment.

2 New approach to laboratories.

3 Reports requiring synoptic view of

experiences and some research.

4 Design and simulate.

5 Learning of MATLAB/programming for

problem solving.

13

Trang 14

Engineering

Evaluation of independent learning

1 Most of the activities were considered

positive by the students (if you ignore the

usual petty complaints from a few).

2 However, the learning of programming

(MATLAB) received a significant minority of

more consistent complaints Several students just could not learn this even with good

support materials and weekly labs

3 By contrast, they liked the ‘spoon feeding’

approach taken to teaching C programming, although their skills development was poor.

14

Trang 15

Engineering

Typical MATLAB Quotes

• Also in lectures, more details or handouts should be

given on MATLAB instead of struggling on that

individually.

• The MATLAB needs some helpful explaining

[Several]

• On the whole good, but I think I would have

benefitted more if MATLAB was taught in a more

similar fashion to C

• As matter of fact, MATLAB is a very complex

software to our 1st year student I strongly

recommend add more lectures about matlab

• A classmate used to complain:"If we suppose to

learn matlab by ourselves, Why should I go so far

away from home, and spent so much money on

education, so that to 'learn by myself' here?"

BUT: I think this module is very good for establishing

a stand alone approach to learning … The MATLAB was my favourite part of this module it has given

me more confidence as a practising engineer that I have the ability to research and construct my own

knowledge on topics.

Trang 16

Engineering

Reflections on student perceptions

of MATLAB

Despite extensive resources in workbook format,

weekly laboratories, numerous exemplar files and of

course the many MathWorks resources, many students just do not get MATLAB.

•Requests to be taught exactly how to solve a problem

before being asked to replicate this, or in other words wanting a very prescribed curriculum – you teach and I learn it.

•An inability to test their own code using

commonsense checks, or in other words a lack of

awareness or expectation that they can validate their own learning.

•An unwillingness to read the material provided

carefully and to go through it methodically; rather they wanted to know ‘the answer’.

•A lack of confidence or self-belief.

Trang 17

Engineering

PROPOSALS FOR THE

FUTURE

Trang 18

Engineering

Proposal

• Strong resistance to give into student requests for a

return to spoon feeding approach (which, in our view, does not lead to effective learning anyway).

• Clearly some students need more support, but we still

want the learning to be student led.

• Learning is known to improve the more senses that

are activated, e.g voice, vision, movement, emotion, etc.

• There is a lot of work on the potential of animations

for encouraging learning.

Develop some interactive learning

resources which student can access at

their own pace!

Trang 19

Engineering

Replacing lectures ?

The basic plan was to host some brief

lecture like material on the web.

• Students often want to ask questions

(feedback?) or revisit lecture content when lecturer unavailable.

• They can go quickly to specific topic where

they are confused.

• Resource is available anywhere and

anytime.

• It allows students to bring lecture into PC

lab and thus see lecture and practise on

computer simultaneously.

19

Trang 20

Engineering

Why use powerpoint?

• The animation abilities of powerpoint are easy to

use.

• Software exists that allows lecturers to link up audio

with powerpoint animations in an intuitive way, e.g ARTICULATE.

• Staff prepare their powerpoint slide (or slides) with

all the animations they might use in a lecture Then, they record at their desk but as if in a lecture [No

rehearsal so quick]

• The software automatically synchronises these two

and generates a flash file that runs on the web

20

Trang 21

Engineering

Demonstration of lectures

Go to the folder HEASEMINARAPRIL4 on the desktop.

1 Run the player.html file and follow the instructions therein.

2 You will need headphones.

For more examples, see the website

http://controleducation.group.shef.ac.uk/MATLAB_ind ex.htm

21

Trang 22

Engineering

EXAMPLE 1: LOOPS

Trang 23

));

Now k=2 hence do y2(2)=sin(xvalues(2

));

Now k=3 hence do Y2(3)=sin(xvalues(3

));

Now k=5 hence do y2(5)=sin(xvalues(5)

);

));

Now k=6 is equal to max of allowed k, continue to next line of

Trang 24

…,start+6*step

Trang 25

Engineering

TASKS

1 Use help week2_loop_for_plotting.m and determine

how to run this file and also how it works.

2 Write a function file which takes as its input a vector

of arbitrary length and then use a loop to define the

output vector whose values are the cubes of the

coefficients of the first vector plus one The syntax

could be:

output_vector = week2_loop_cube(input_vector)

3 Write a file to compute savings growth over time For

instance, let savings with an interest rate of 5% and

annual bonus of £5 grow according to the model:

Write a file with syntax

Trang 26

Engineering

EXAMPLE 2: DEFINITION

OF TRANSFER FUNCTION

Trang 27

9

2

3 2 3

2

+ +

s

s s

G

Trang 28

s M

s

s K

s

H s

s s

s G

4

) 1 (

2 6

5 3

4

3 64

48 12

2 3

2

2 2

+ +

+

=

Trang 29

Engineering

EVALUATION

Trang 30

Engineering

Student evaluation (year 1)

• 88% of the students felt the resources for the

module including MATLAB were good or very

good

• 63% said: I think this was a good way to help

students learn MATLAB in their own time and they were easy to use

• 53% felt the MATLAB delivery with FLASH lectures

had helped them improve their independent

learning skills substantially and all but one or the remaining students felt it had helped them a

little.

• 98% of the students agreed that the development

of independent learning skills was important and department should require this for some topics

and that the overall balance was good.

30

Trang 31

Engineering

The class was split 53:46 in terms of whether the

independent learning requirements of MATLAB

were right or too much

This is interesting because it is not so consistent

with other modules where around 90% of

students felt the independent learning

requirements were about right (in those cases the learning required was probably closer to the

research type work they will have encountered at school).

31

Trang 32

Engineering

The majority of students agreed that independent

learning skills are important (less than 20\%

disagreed)

However, when the question was specific to MATLAB 55\% thought the balance was good and 45\% the opposite Nevertheless, this was much more

favourable than the response for other topics.

Student grades: the performance on this laboratory

has been good compared to previous years (about 5\% up with student numbers around 180 this is

significant) even though the number of questions

and the demand has been substantially increased.

32

Trang 33

Engineering

Student comments (year 2)

I think animated MATLAB lectures were a good way

to help students learn MATLAB in their own time and they were easy to use.

80\% were positive (15\% knew MATLAB already so did not use) and only 5\% did not think this was a good idea or helpful.

33

Trang 34

Engineering

Student comments (year 1)

• Was very nice and I think more powerpoint slides

that are in the format like the ones of matlab

should be added for other modules to;

• The lectures on boothwood are VERY useful-

thank you;

• The lectures on Boothwood was helpful

• I think that the animated lectures on boothwood

were very helpful for independent learning of

MATLAB;

• I find them easy to use and informative My own

independent attempts at learning MATLAB would

probably have taken much longer without these;

• The material available for learning MATLAB is

really good and improvement on the previous

year.

34

Trang 35

Engineering

Student comments (year 1) continued

• It has perfect electronic resources However,

sometimes it is enough to get a slightly different question then you were taught and even if you

know what to do, you don't know how to tell it to computer.

• The electronic slides by Dr Rossiter are really

helpful > self study was possible by using them.

35

Trang 36

Engineering

Conclusions

• Although we will not claim students are now

highly proficient at problem solving with

MATLAB, it is clear that they are much more positive about the expectation that they

learn it by themselves.

• A key aim of year 1 is to get students to

engage with and accept independent

learning – we believe introducing these

resources has made a good contribution to meeting this aim.

Trang 37

Engineering

PEER

MARKING

Trang 38

Engineering

Problem solving with MATLAB (year 1, sem 2)

• Students produce code and a partner report

demonstrating use of MATLAB to solve and

illustrate engineering problems.

• Mark schemes very prescriptive between:

• Comments, correctness, code easier to run,

report structure, efficiency of code, etc.

Two stage marking

Peer marking 1 st

Staff marking 2 weeks later

Encourage reflection

on quality before key

submission

Trang 39

Engineering

MATLAB

1 The author’s observations are that students were

very actively engaged in the process and certainly making suggestions to each other about what they could improve or where their code did not fully

meet the specifications

2 However, the accuracy of marking of the qualitative

aspects and some specific requirements was poor, even with very specific guidance to follow.

3 However, a useful formative process that seemed

to encourage some PAL.

In general students still struggling with open-ended

criteria and independent learning used in this

module to reflect some engineering practise; this

impacts on marking.

Định dạng
Số trang	48
Dung lượng	1,09 MB