How is it possible to create and continuously improve a quality learning environment for our students? We present our one-year course on engineering thermodynamics as a case study in which we investigate the learning environment based on a competency model from the students' perspective. Based on the analysis of our course structure and exam…

Epistemic beliefs, epistemic cognitions, and self-regulation processes have a significant role in students' learning. Through this study, I investigated the role of mechanical engineering students' epistemic beliefs and epistemic cognitions involved in self-regulation processes while working on tasks with different difficulty levels. In this…

Peer assessment has traditionally represented a key tool to enhance active learning and critical thinking. However, the success of this approach is governed by different factors, which have been accentuated in recent years. The implementation of peer assessment is consequently a challenging task in the current context. This work investigates peer…

Background: Visual representations are pervasive in electrical engineering instruction in various instructional settings. Further, electrical engineering instruction often requires students to extend simple visual representations to learn about more complex visualization in subsequent instruction. Yet, students often struggle to understand…

Ideation methods and outcomes have been evaluated in a variety of ways. Our study extends existing work through a qualitative analysis of idea characteristics based on the ideation method used. Beginning engineering students completed two short ideation sessions with a single design problem while following Individual Brainstorming and then Design…

Cognitive learning strategies are seen as a central element for successful learning. Acquiring knowledge about its worth, can support persons in sophisticated groups in attaining academic success. Consequently, the authors are interested in domain-specific learning strategies for mathematics in the academic disciplines of economics and engineering…

This study evaluates the implementation of a collaborative/game-based learning strategy on final year B.Sc. students focused on reinforcing the Taylor theorem (a mathematical concept previously learned, usually forgotten over time and widely used in chemical engineering) and analyses its effect on their academic performance. To this end, the…

Contemporary literature in engineering education calls for focused efforts towards revitalizing the curriculum, pedagogic practice, and assessments. Creating multidisciplinary, experiential learning opportunities through a biomimicry module offers authentic and situated experiences for designing sustainable solutions inspired by and in harmony…

Physical education in colleges plays an increasingly important role in cultivating high-quality innovative talent. The main factors that affect college students' approaches to learning physics remain unknown. This study examined the relationships among college engineering students' epistemic views of physics, conceptions of learning physics, and…

The purpose of this study aimed to investigate the impact of incorporating a scripted collaborative learning strategy into digital storytelling (DST) on the vocabulary acquisition, creativity and writing skills of EFL college students. While DST has been previously utilised in English language education, it faces several challenges. To address…

While decades of research from cognitive psychology provided insight into effective learning strategies for long-term learning, there is a discrepancy between what research recommends and what students do. We investigated first-year engineering students' knowledge and use of learning strategies, and how they experience and adapt to learning…

Engineering design entails making value-laden judgments against ill-defined, ambiguous, and/or competing sociotechnical criteria. In this article, we argue that such conditions make engineering designers particularly susceptible to the potentially deleterious effects of mis/disinformation in the processes and practices of engineering design, their…

Knowledge about sustainability problems as it is typically taught does not "per se" lead to action for tackling these problems. Environmental and sustainability education researchers have argued for teaching more action-oriented knowledge. This article addresses the 'didactical work' required for teachers to do so, both in preparing and…

To help students become better learners, educators need to be able to provide feedback to students on their learning processes. However, this can be challenging for educators due to the customized nature of such feedback. To that end, we have created and evaluated the Acknowledge, Affirm, Challenge, and Encourage (A[superscript 2]CE) framework as…

Background: Spatial problem-solving is an essential skill for success in many engineering disciplines; thus, understanding the cognitive processes involved could help inform the design of training interventions for students trying to improve this skill. Prior research has yet to investigate the differences in cognitive processes between spatial…