A Social Realist Case Study of Knowledge and Pedagogy in the First Two Years of Electrical Engineering Education

Abstract

Sound understanding in electrical engineering requires developing a complex set of linked abstract knowledge about invisible phenomena which are difficult to teach and learn. Often students do not gain abstract knowledge but rote-learn isolated facts instead; and rather than develop the capability to reason using abstract knowledge, they rely on knowing how to use mathematical formulae and procedure. Our modern society however is so dependent upon the abstract knowledge of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, that this is unsatisfactory. This research involved a case study of undergraduate students' abstract knowledge development in the electrical engineering programme at the University of Auckland. To capture a full perspective of teaching and learning around knowledge of electric circuits I engaged with social realist theories about knowledge, structure, identity and agency; and then immersed myself within four courses in the first two years of electrical engineering. By observing lectures, laboratories and tutorials, and interviewing students, teachers and lecturers, I developed an understanding of the structures of electrical engineering education and their impact on the type of knowledge taught, their interaction with student agency and therefore what students learn. I developed a quiz and a set of fundamental circuit concept tutorials to develop students' knowledge and investigate their agency. The tutorials engaged students with dynamic visualisations of electric circuits and students began to develop abstract knowledge. Most students however were unwilling to engage with the unassessed tutorials, even when presented with immediate evidence of their misunderstandings. This aspect of student agency was linked to an identity which had proven success in passing assessments through reliance on knowing how to use formulae and fragments of knowledge. Informed by these findings, I conceptualised and developed a novel educational technology tool called GECKO (Growing Epistemic Circuit Knowledge Outcomes) along iv with a framework for integrating it with the pedagogy of direct instruction. These were then used as the basis for redeveloping part of a second year course. Through engaging with visualisations GECKO is used to develop students' epistemic knowledge and capabilities with inferential reasoning. The pedagogic framework supports designing a course that integrates teaching of abstract knowledge using explanations, demonstrations and visualisation, along with a blended formative-summative assessment using GECKO. In a later project-based course, an investigation of students' abstract knowledge and inferential reasoning revealed promising results. These findings can form the basis for wider experimentation and implementation of this approach in other electrical engineering courses.