Creating online structured academic controversies

McLaughlan, RG

Creating online structured academic controversies

McLaughlan, RG

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Publisher:: American Society for Engineering Education
Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, 2004, pp. 1 - 8
Issue Date:: 2004-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	McLaughlan, RG https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9796-0988	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Teri Rhoads	en_US
dc.date	2004-06-20	en_US
dc.date.issued	2004-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, 2004, pp. 1 - 8	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/11014
dc.description.abstract	There have been calls within engineering practice and engineering education to develop within engineers a capacity to recognise and accommodate diverse and even competing perspectives within decision-making processes. To satisfy these needs an instructional technique called Structured Academic Controversy was modified for multi-party controversies and for use with internet mediated communication. The activity specifically seeks to promote multiple perspective-taking on a controversial science and technology public issue and to develop conflict management skills, critical thinking and collaborative skills. The technique has been used to explore controversy surrounding genetically modified foods, the provision of telecommunication infrastructure to meet regional needs, the role of e-Libraries and the damming of international rivers. Feedback from student surveys show that there was a high level of student agreement that the activity developed their awareness of the political, social, environmental and scientific dimensions of the issue discussed. There were also high levels of student satisfaction with the activity. However due to the high number of student postings and the threaded nature of the discussion forum some students found it difficult to interact with all the points raised and to sustain dialogue within a thread. These problems with online dialogue have also been found in other studies. The instructional technique described has been effective in allowing students to develop knowledge of contemporary issues and appreciate the impacts of engineering solutions.	en_US
dc.publisher	American Society for Engineering Education	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition	en_US
dc.title	Creating online structured academic controversies	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.location	USA	en_US
utslib.location.activity	USA	en_US
utslib.for	090508 Water Quality Engineering	en_US
utslib.for	090703 Environmental Technologies	en_US
dc.location.activity	USA	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CTWW - Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater Treatment
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	false	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	USA	en_US
pubs.start-date	2004-06-20	en_US

Abstract:

There have been calls within engineering practice and engineering education to develop within engineers a capacity to recognise and accommodate diverse and even competing perspectives within decision-making processes. To satisfy these needs an instructional technique called Structured Academic Controversy was modified for multi-party controversies and for use with internet mediated communication. The activity specifically seeks to promote multiple perspective-taking on a controversial science and technology public issue and to develop conflict management skills, critical thinking and collaborative skills. The technique has been used to explore controversy surrounding genetically modified foods, the provision of telecommunication infrastructure to meet regional needs, the role of e-Libraries and the damming of international rivers. Feedback from student surveys show that there was a high level of student agreement that the activity developed their awareness of the political, social, environmental and scientific dimensions of the issue discussed. There were also high levels of student satisfaction with the activity. However due to the high number of student postings and the threaded nature of the discussion forum some students found it difficult to interact with all the points raised and to sustain dialogue within a thread. These problems with online dialogue have also been found in other studies. The instructional technique described has been effective in allowing students to develop knowledge of contemporary issues and appreciate the impacts of engineering solutions.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/11014