212 research outputs found
Modelling and learning a complex concept – an exploration in light of some examples from electric circuit theory Jonte Bernhard a,b, and Anna-Karin Carstensen a,b,c
Make links : overcoming the threshold and entering the portal of understanding
No full textIn engineering the student is often ‘faced with contrasting representations or models’ (Entwistle et al., 2005, p. 9), which Entwistle explores as ‘ways of thinking and practising’ (ibid). These contrasting representations are in electric circuits for example: graphs, mathematical models, drawings of circuits and the real circuits. In our research we have found that exploring the relationships – links – between these different representations, as well in the theory/model domain as in the object/event domain (Tiberghien, Vince, & Gaidioz, 2009) is of uttermost importance. We have developed a tool for investigation of ‘the learning of a complex concept’ (Carstensen & Bernhard, 2008a) which we have used in order to find critical aspects, which we call “key concepts” (Carstensen & Bernhard, 2008b), which open up the portal of understanding threshold concepts.In this paper we will explore these links further. As we have continued our work on how students make links between the different islands of single concepts, in order to make a whole of the complex concept, we have noted that the links between these islands are of different kinds. We will here discuss what kinds of relationships these links consist of, and how they differ in ways of coping with them for students, and how the teachers may notice and highlight these relationships in their instructions.We have video recorded students interactions during lab-work and analysed these tapes according to the Theory of Variation (Marton & Tsui, 2004). Now we are taking this further, and make a more detailed analysis of what the links are, and by that we contribute to the understanding of the nature of a threshold concept.</p
Design Science Research – an engineering research approach to improve methods for engineering education research [Elektronisk resurs]
No full textModelling is an engineering activity commonly used by engineers, and can be used also in engineering education research (EER). The use of qualitative research methods have in EER not always been widely accepted but have recently gained more attention (Case & Light, 2011). There are, however, also qualitative research methods in engineering research that may be used in EER (Bernhard, in press). One such approach is design science research, where the object of research is the design process, i.e. the knowledge retrieved is not always knowledge about the phenomenon, the artefact, the design, but rather knowledge about the method used. This paper aims at researching the method used when deriving the model “the learning of a complex concept”, the LCC-model, which we developed while designing teaching sequences in a course in electrical engineering.</p
Design Science Research – an engineering research approach to improve methods for engineering education research
No full textModelling is an engineering activity commonly used by engineers, and can be used also in engineering education research (EER). The use of qualitative research methods have in EER not always been widely accepted but have recently gained more attention (Case & Light, 2011). There are, however, also qualitative research methods in engineering research that may be used in EER (Bernhard, in press). One such approach is design science research, where the object of research is the design process, i.e. the knowledge retrieved is not always knowledge about the phenomenon, the artefact, the design, but rather knowledge about the method used. This paper aims at researching the method used when deriving the model “the learning of a complex concept”, the LCC-model, which we developed while designing teaching sequences in a course in electrical engineering.VR 721-2011-557
What matters for students learning in the laboratory? Do not neglect the role of experimental equipment!
No full textAccording to variation theory, it is essential to enable students to focus on the object of learning and discern its critical features, but the features that it is possible to discern often depend on the equipment used. Thus, in labs, the experimental technologies used may shape students experience of focal phenomena, in a human-mediating tools-world manner, by placing some aspects of reality in the foreground, others in the background, and visualizing certain aspects that would otherwise be invisible. However, this mediating role is often neglected, and instruments and devices are often seen as having little cognitive value. Hence, the role of experimental technologies in labs as tools for learning is examined here through a case study, in which three sets of students investigated the same physical relationships (Newtonian motion in an inclined plane), but using different measurement technologies. The results demonstrate that what it is possible for students to experience in a laboratory is heavily influenced by the chosen technology. Some technologies do not afford the discernment of features regarded as crucial for students to learn. Furthermore, analysis of video recordings shows that the three sets of students discourses differed, although they studied the "same physics". Hence, the role of experimental technologies in students learning in labs should not be neglected, and their courses of action should be seen as material-discursive practice. Moreover, general conclusions about learning in labs should be drawn cautiously, specifying the conditions and technology used, and discussions about learning technologies should not be limited to the use of computers.Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsradet) [VR 721-2011-5570]</p
Insightful learning in the laboratory : Some experiences from ten years of designing and using conceptual labs
No full textI describe a series of projects on the design and implementation of “conceptual labs” aimed atdeveloping insightful learning, following work that began in 1994/95. The main focus has been oncourses in mechanics and electric circuit theory. The approach taken in designing these innovativecurricula can be described as “design-based research”. A common feature in these learningenvironments is the use of technology as a tool to aid students’ inquiry. In addition, systematicvariation, based on the theory of variation, has been introduced into the design of the assignedtasks. Results from conceptual inventories have demonstrated the success of conceptual labs. Inthe later projects we used video recording to study students’ courses of action in labs. I describehow these studies have provided insights into conditions that are critical for learning and howthese insights have helped me and co-workers to make further improvements to learningenvironments
Learning of complex concepts : Engineering students’ developing epistemic fluency in an electric circuit theory course
No full textAn important aim in engineering education is that students should not only acquire knowledge, but they should be able to use this knowledge in action. I.e. they should develop professional capabilities for knowledgeable action and actionable knowledge. According to Markauskaite and Goodyear professional knowledgeable action requires a holistic, fluent and co-ordinated use of semiotic and material tools, body and environment. Knowledgeable action requires the development of epistemic fluency that involves the ability to smoothly move between abstract, contextual and situated ways of knowing and the capacity to employ multiple epistemic tools. However, the epistemic complexity of knowledgeable action is often underestimated in engineering education. This epistemic complexity has been addressed by Carstensen and Bernhard who have developed the notion of “learning of complex concepts” (LCC-model) that models how students learn to master epistemic tools by “making links”. In this study we have used the LCC-model as an investigatory tool to analyse video-recordings from electric circuit theory courses. The aim was to gain an increased understanding in how students develop epistemic fluency. We will discuss critical features in the design of labs and in the use of real experiments, computer simulations, modelling and other semiotic and material tools in labs for students’ development of epistemic fluency. The results of this study show that labs can be designed to facilitate students’ development of epistemic fluency by making links.</p
Understanding phase as a key concept in physics and electrical engineering
No full textIn electrical engineering as well as in physics it is crucial to understand that the phase, and not only magnitudes, of signals such as AC-currents and voltages or light matters. In a preliminary study (Bernhard & Carstensen, 2002) we found difficulties in understanding phase relationships (cf. Kautz, 2011; Mazzolini, Scott, & Edwards, 2012) and in modeling (cf. Carstensen & Bernhard, 2008; Foley, 2010). In electrical engineering and in physics complex numbers open up for “new and previously inaccessible way of thinking” and representing phase relationships and in an earlier work we have shown that understanding complex numbers opens up for “seeing things in a new way” (Bernhard, Carstensen, & Holmberg, 2008). In this paper we will present a study using questionnaires and interviews with second and third year electrical engineering that shows that for most students phase relationships and the use of complex numbers (phasors) in representing signals still are troublesome knowledge and that most students are in a liminal space. Without understanding the concept of phase students would face immense problems in understanding for example electric circuits or optics.</p
Från teori till teknikundervisning
No full textTeknikens betydelse för samhället blir större för varje dag som går och formar också stora delar av våra liv. Våra hem är fyllda med olika apparater som, utan att vi egentligen tänker på det, ansluter oss till tekniska system som i sin tur försörjer oss med vatten, el, telekommunikation och annan infrastruktur. Tekniken spelar också en viktig roll i yrkeslivet, oavsett om man arbetar med att utveckla ny teknik, att underhålla teknik eller att använda teknik i sitt arbete. Behovet av att förstå tekniken har alltså aldrig varit så stort som nu varför vi valt att sätta samman denna antologi. Boken är skriven med blivande och verk-samma lärare i fokus. Vi har därför valt att lyfta fram en bred förståelse för teknik och teknikundervisning, samtidigt som vi försökt visa hur denna förståelse kan vara ett verktyg för att utveckla undervisning. Målet för oss i redaktionen har med andra ord varit att skapa en blandning av texter som med varierande konkretion belyser den konstruerade världen ur ett flertal olika perspektiv...
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