MOTIVATION OF FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS: A DESIGN AND BUILD PROJECT’S CONTRIBUTION

Brown, T; Rayner, DG

MOTIVATION OF FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS: A DESIGN AND BUILD PROJECT’S CONTRIBUTION

Brown, T

Rayner, DG

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Publisher:: SEFI
Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: SEFI 48th Annual Conference: Engaging Engineering Education, 2020, pp. 678-690
Issue Date:: 2020

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Brown, T https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0155-9151
dc.contributor.author	Rayner, DG
dc.contributor.editor	van der Veen, J
dc.contributor.editor	van Hattum-Janssen, N
dc.contributor.editor	Järvinen, H-M
dc.contributor.editor	de Laet, T
dc.contributor.editor	ten Dam, I
dc.contributor.editor	Meijer-Lentelink, J
dc.contributor.editor	de Boer, J
dc.date	2020-09-20
dc.date.accessioned	2021-06-10T02:57:38Z
dc.date.available	2021-06-10T02:57:38Z
dc.date.issued	2020
dc.identifier.citation	SEFI 48th Annual Conference: Engaging Engineering Education, 2020, pp. 678-690
dc.identifier.isbn	978-2-87352-020-5
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/149482
dc.description.abstract	Hands-on ‘design and build’ projects have been advocated and reported to be essential components of practice-based learning for engineers for many years. The focus of most studies on the benefits of such design and build projects has been on technical/design skills. This paper is a reflection of practice in which the coordinator and teacher of a first-year engineering subject sought to find out how students’ experience of a ‘design and build’ project might relate to their motivation and confidence to succeed as student engineers. Students in a first-year Introduction to Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering subject (250-300 students in Autumn, approximately 100 students in Spring) participated in a ‘design and build’ project. The students worked in groups of 4-5 to design and build a small functional prototype wind-powered vehicle. After completing the subject, students completed an anonymous and voluntary online survey. The survey gathered some demographic information, asked several Likert-scale agree-disagree questions and encouraged students to write short explanations of why they agreed or disagreed and to describe their experiences. Student responses were evaluated and interpreted from expectancy-value theory of motivation and self-determination theory contexts. Students largely agreed that their participation in the design and build project had a positive impact on their confidence and expectation to succeed and on their perceived value of their studies. These results indicate that well-designed and supported design and build projects can have an important role to play in student motivation and successful transition to university.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	SEFI
dc.relation.ispartof	SEFI 48th Annual Conference: Engaging Engineering Education
dc.relation.ispartof	SEFI Annual Conference
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.title	MOTIVATION OF FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS: A DESIGN AND BUILD PROJECT’S CONTRIBUTION
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.location.activity	Enschede, The Netherlands
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 Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
dc.date.updated	2021-06-10T02:57:37Z
pubs.finish-date	2020-09-24
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.start-date	2020-09-20

Abstract:

Hands-on ‘design and build’ projects have been advocated and reported to be essential components of practice-based learning for engineers for many years. The focus of most studies on the benefits of such design and build projects has been on technical/design skills. This paper is a reflection of practice in which the coordinator and teacher of a first-year engineering subject sought to find out how students’ experience of a ‘design and build’ project might relate to their motivation and confidence to succeed as student engineers. Students in a first-year Introduction to Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering subject (250-300 students in Autumn, approximately 100 students in Spring) participated in a ‘design and build’ project. The students worked in groups of 4-5 to design and build a small functional prototype wind-powered vehicle. After completing the subject, students completed an anonymous and voluntary online survey. The survey gathered some demographic information, asked several Likert-scale agree-disagree questions and encouraged students to write short explanations of why they agreed or disagreed and to describe their experiences. Student responses were evaluated and interpreted from expectancy-value theory of motivation and self-determination theory contexts. Students largely agreed that their participation in the design and build project had a positive impact on their confidence and expectation to succeed and on their perceived value of their studies. These results indicate that well-designed and supported design and build projects can have an important role to play in student motivation and successful transition to university.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/149482