1,721,465 research outputs found
Curriculum development of a social hydrology course based on a blended learning approach
No full textWater is a vital source of life on this planet. Understanding the interaction of water with society is vital for achieving sustainable water resources development. Many water engineering projects worldwide have provided significant benefits to the community; however, there are examples where ill-planned water projects have undermined the environment and have affected the community adversely due to an inadequate understanding of the interaction of water with the environment and society. This chapter presents an overview of hydrology courses in Australian universities. It has been found that most hydrology courses in Australia are biased towards mathematical computation, and little focus is placed on the interdisciplinary nature and social aspects of hydrology. A new hydrology course is proposed in this chapter to overcome some limitations of the current hydrology courses in Australia. The proposed course focuses on the interdisciplinary nature of hydrology, including its social aspects, in addition to mathematical aspects. It is proposed to initiate a forum of hydrology academics in Australia to design a hydrology course that can meet the need of water users, water industry and research sectors, as well as the need of the society as a whole. A blended learning approach is proposed to design such a hydrology course by developing and sharing resources among various disciplines across different institutions
Recent advances in the use of remote labs in fluid mechanics : a review
No full textThe evolution of digital computers along with the advancement of simulation technologies, remote controlling of instruments, automated data acquisition and rapid data analysis methods have opened a new door of delivering engineering education via online and blended learning methods. Distance delivery of engineering degrees often needs the use of virtual and remote laboratories in order to facilitate online teaching of intrinsic laboratory components. Remote laboratories present an opportunity for a student to complete the required laboratory components of his/her degree, usually from a distant location, and more importantly at their convenient time. The experimentation is performed by controlling the laboratory equipment using web-based means. This chapter presents the state of the art of recent research and developments of online learning via virtual and remote laboratories, and in particular makes a comparison among three different types of laboratories: hands-on/ physical, virtual and remote. Virtual/remote laboratories could be useful to many developing countries where setting up of physical laboratories may be more expensive and hence establishing virtual/remote laboratories at a few central locations may cater to a large number of students across the country
Evaluation of 40 credit points thesis in Bachelor of Engineering Course in Western Sydney University, Australia
No full textEngineering bachelor degree course generally consists of a final year major project/ thesis in a four-year study. In many universities, this is undertaken as a design project, either by a single or group of student(s). Many engineering schools have an embedded honours component where the project/thesis is integrated in the final year of study. In contrast, university science course is typically of three-year duration, followed by an additional year of honours study by the academically outperforming students. To enhance honours program, the former College of Health and Science, Western Sydney University (WSU) in Australia undertook a major benchmarking exercise of its honours programs in 2009. The author as the then School of Engineering Honours Coordinator compared honours courses in a number of major engineering schools in Australia and made wider consultation with relevant WSU academics and committees to make a submission to the honours benchmarking committee. The outcome of this exercise resulted in the implementation of an engineering honours program in WSU comprising of a thesis component worth 40 credit points. In this paper, the author, as the School Honours Coordinator and as supervisor of honours students presents his coordination, supervision and learning experiences of engineering honours thesis at WSU. It has been found that the 40 credit points honours thesis in WSU enhanced the learning outcomes of the students, which was demonstrated by the students’ increased recognition in the state competitions, HDR enrolments and peer-reviewed publications
Doctoral supervision : a case study in Western Sydney University, Australia
No full textDoctoral study is the highest level of study where the best academically performing students carry out specified research under an expert supervisory panel in a university. The role of a doctoral supervisor is to train a student having little/no experience in research (novice) so that the student becomes an independent researcher at the end of his candidature. The paper presents the author’s experiences in supervising doctoral students in Western Sydney University during the last seven years. The author highlights the common difficulties faced by the doctoral students. It has been noted that the doctoral students face significant difficulty in literature review, research writing and statistical analysis in the field of statistical hydrology (author’s area of expertise). However, a strategic supervision can make a student successful in gaining necessary skills to publish high quality journal articles and to write an excellent thesis
A reflection on Master of Engineering Project : a case study in Western Sydney University, Australia
No full textMaster of Engineering Project (MEP) is one of the core subjects in Master of Engineering program in Western Sydney University. This subject aims to consolidate the entire study over two years and allows a student to develop necessary skill sets and learning capabilities in a specialised field to devise an innovative solution to a given problem. In this paper, the authors present their learning and teaching experiences in MEP, where the first author completed his MEP as a student under the supervision of the second author. It has been found by the first author that a blended learning approach assisted him in completing the MEP successfully with the production of two refereed conference articles based on his MEP. The second author identified that many of the MEP students had notable lacking in research writing which prevented them from producing refereed publications based on their MEP studies
Updating hydrology course in Australian universities : incorporation of social hydrology using a blended learning approach
No full textUnderstanding the interaction of water with society is vital for achieving sustainable water resources development. There are many water engineering projects worldwide that have provided significant benefits to the community; however, there are examples where ill-planned water projects have undermined the environment and affected the community badly due to an inadequate understanding of the interaction of water with the environment and society. This paper presents an overview of hydrology courses in Australian universities. It has been found that most hydrology courses in Australia are biased towards mathematical computation and there is little focus on inter-disciplinary nature and social aspects of hydrology. A new hydrology course is proposed in this paper to overcome some limitations of the current hydrology courses in Australia. The new course focuses on the interdisciplinary nature of hydrology including social aspects of hydrology, in addition to mathematical aspects. It is proposed to initiate a forum of hydrology academics in Australia to prepare a hydrology course that can meet the need of water industry and research sectors, as well as the need of the society as a whole. A blended learning approach can be adopted to develop such a hydrology course by developing and sharing resources among various disciplines across different institutions
Use of virtual and remote laboratories : opportunities for fluid mechanics subject in Western Sydney University
No full textThe evolution of digital computers along with the advancement of simulation technology, remote controlling of instruments, automated data acquisition and rapid data analysis methods have opened a new door of delivering engineering education via online and blended learning. The distance delivery of engineering degrees often needs use of virtual and remote laboratories in order to facilitate online teaching of laboratory components of an engineering degree. Remote laboratory presents an opportunity for a student to complete the required laboratory components of his/her degree usually from a distant location, and more importantly at his/her convenient time. In virtual laboratory, the experimentation is performed by controlling the laboratory equipment using web-based means. This paper presents the state of the art of recent research and developments on online learning via virtual and remote laboratories. This in particular makes a comparison among three different types of laboratories, hands-on/physical, virtual and remote laboratories. Finally, the opportunities and limitations of a proposed virtual/remote laboratory for Fluid Mechanics subject in Western Sydney University are explored
Statistical hydrology teaching using a blended learning approach
No full textThis chapter presents the delivery of an advanced statistical hydrology subject through the blended learning approach in Western Sydney University (WSU) as a part of the Master of Engineering degree. It has been found that blended learning is quite effective in delivering the contents of the subject to Master of Engineering students. The subject currently consists of a 5-hour face-to-face workshop and 11 pre-recorded tutorial sessions. The recorded tutorial sessions have been found to be the most useful element of this subject, as they have allowed a student to listen to the materials as many times as needed and at a time that is convenient to him/her. The preparation of a critical literature review has been found to be the most difficult task for the students. It has been found that a 5-hour workshop is inadequate to deliver the subject contents effectively to students, and hence it is proposed that a 2-hour lecture be delivered every week to answer students’ queries and facilitate face-to-face engagement among the students themselves, and between the students and lecturer, to enhance learning of this subject. Furthermore, an intra-session and end-of-semester examination are proposed to evaluate student learning in the subject. This will make the blended learning approach more effective for the students of the advanced statistical hydrology subject in WSU in future years
Upgrading the Australian engineering curriculum to enhance communication skills of engineering students
No full textEngineers are regarded as problem solvers who use science, technology and mathematics to solve physical problems to build a better physical world. Poor communication skills have been regarded as a significant obstacle for many engineering students and junior engineers as they struggle to present their novel ideas and technical analyses effectively to others. On the other hand, it has been found that there are many engineers who have excellent communication skills. One possible solution to this problem is the introduction of a new subject in the engineering course curriculum on effective communication similar to some universities in the USA. A blended learning approach can be used to deliver this new subject that offers an enhanced flexibility in learning. It is suggested that Engineers Australia prepares a position paper on this issue and recommends a suitable roadmap for its implementation to help improving communication skills of Australian Engineering students
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