Learning through Practice S.Sathiakumar

School of Electrical and Information Engineering

University of Sydney

Problem solving should be a major part of education

Educators must create an environment that promote problem solving , critical thinking and learning how to learn

Teach about Something

Learn the Concepts

Knowledge

Flow

How to do something

Acquire skill to apply the concepts

Practice

Outcome of the Education SystemLearn the concepts

Acquire ability to apply the concepts to practical situations

Traditional System

The teacher is the superior

authority

Responsible for student education

Teacher is the only source of

information

Possible to have one-to-one relationship

in a small group of students

Present/Future System

Teacher no longer a superior authority

Teacher’s role is now becoming a facilitator for learning and students are responsible for their own learning

Rich, massive educational resources are available for students through various media such as internet and multimedia educational program

In a large class, gap between the students and the teacher has widened

The three main components of the system

     Lecturing (Learning the concepts)

Done in a large class room using white/black board and overhead projector ineffective

     Tutoring (acquiring skills to apply the concepts)

Done with smaller group but with inadequate number of and inefficient tutors ineffective

     Assessing

Assignments (small component) - needs marking difficult

Final Exam (major component) more stress

Technology to overcome the difficulties

     Lecturing

Use computer projections – with software like PowerPoint

Text, pictures, video clips, animations, simulations etc. (use multimedia) more effective

    Tutoring

Use an on-line interactive learning system – prompt the students to think more effective

 Assessing

Use on-line examination system – machine marking – can have more through semester assessment easy and reliable

Final examination less stress

Learning System“Drill and Practice” methods have been proved to be effective in variety of learning situations [Forcier 1997].

It develops an ‘automacity’ in the minds of young learners to master basic

concepts which they can build up further to higher level concepts at later stage.

A Well Developed Learning System

Offers extensive interactivity through user control

Provides self regulating learning environment

Follows appropriate and comprehensive teaching sequence

Develops problem solving capabilities

Teaches steps involved in seeing a problem

Provides formative and summative style of reporting for learners to check their understanding

Provides learners to acquire skills by providing the opportunity to solve problem

Problem solvingSense the problem

Research the problem to obtain additional information

Formulate the task

Find solution methods, choose appropriate and best method

Solve the problem

Use bottom-up approach ie., practice to develop the basic (fundamental) skills first and then build on that to solve complicated problems

Make it more interactive

Problem Types

Computer is an ideal tool to make a learning system

Can provide feed back to the students as they work

Offers a self regulating learning environment in which students are in charge of their own learning

Can interact with number of students

Can keep record of every one

Multiple choice typeOn-line System

Short answer typeNumerical answer type

Administration

Examination System

Instant marking and release of results or

Mark and release the result at a convenient date and time

Conclusion

An on-line Learning system and an Examination system have been developed and successfully employed for undergraduate teaching. The students’ attitude towards learning has been very positive giving higher learning outcome.