Understanding the factors that support the effective application of multimedia in the study of complex non-quantitative concepts in manufacturing undergraduate courses

Abstract

The engineering teaching community is becoming increasingly aware of the need to provide challenging and rewarding learning experiences for students. There is also an awareness that engineering education, whilst not in thrall to the wider engineering profession, nevertheless, needs to recognise the demands made on graduates in the workplace and the increasing emphasis being placed on topics such as communication and teamwork skills and the ability to negotiate solutions to complex problems. In recognition of these factors this research study was designed to investigate ways in which the delivery of complex, ill-defined and non-quantitative domains in engineering could be improved. In particular, how could levels of student motivation and engagement be raised and how could practitioners more successfully demonstrate the integrated nature of the topics, and the indeterminacy of the problems, contained within these courses. The course chosen for analysis and as a 'test-bed' for the intervention proposed as a solution, was a Year Three one-semester course in manufacturing systems at the University of Auckland. The study focused on the use of computer-based, multimedia simulation to create a virtual enterprise, designed in accordance with situated learning principles. The output of the study was a teaching intervention, validated over several iterations, which met the requirements of improving the delivery of complex, ill-defined domains as described above together with a recommended methodology for the development of interventions for similar courses. The research took the form of an interpretive, qualitative study with the major methods of data collection being group and semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and observation. The major finding of the research study was that the application of a novel comprehensive simulation of a manufacturing enterprise designed to incorporate a situated learning model and offering authentic content within an authentic context could satisfactorily produce better pedagogical outcomes for engineering students in the domains targeted.