Assessable online discussion groups as a student learning tool

Paper

Devine, Jo. 2009. "Assessable online discussion groups as a student learning tool." Kestell, Colin, Grainger, Steven and Cheung, John (ed.) 20th Annual Conference for the Australasian Association of Engineering Education (AAEE 2009). Adelaide, Australia 06 - 09 Dec 2009 Adelaide, Australia.
Paper/Presentation Title

Assessable online discussion groups as a student learning tool

Presentation TypePaper
Authors
AuthorDevine, Jo
EditorsKestell, Colin, Grainger, Steven and Cheung, John
Journal or Proceedings TitleProceedings of the 20th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2009)
Number of Pages6
Year2009
Place of PublicationAdelaide, Australia
ISBN1876346590
Web Address (URL) of Paperhttp://www.aaee.com.au/
Conference/Event20th Annual Conference for the Australasian Association of Engineering Education (AAEE 2009)
Event Details
Rank
B
B
B
B
B
Event Details
20th Annual Conference for the Australasian Association of Engineering Education (AAEE 2009)
Parent
Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE)
Delivery
In person
Event Date
06 to end of 09 Dec 2009
Event Location
Adelaide, Australia
Abstract

Online discussion groups were introduced in a second level construction engineering course to engage students with the high volume of course reading material. The aim was to improve students’ retention and understanding of the material through ongoing discussion and exploration of the material in a peer environment.

During the semester the groups were given several construction scenarios to discuss, these were structured so that students needed to critically evaluate and apply the relevant course material, identifying and making appropriate assumptions as they went, in order to answer a series of open ended questions. The outcome of each group discussion was submitted via an assessable report. Individual marks were allocated based on a combination of report content and individual contribution.

This paper will discuss the benefits and difficulties encountered with assessable online discussion groups, the steps taken to address problems and the measures that were used to evaluate their success.

Keywordsonline discusion groups, construction engineering education, assessment, discussion forum,
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020390102. Curriculum and pedagogy theory and development
390113. Science, technology and engineering curriculum and pedagogy
Public Notes

Author retains copyright. Copyright © J. Devine, 2009.

Byline AffiliationsDepartment of Agricultural, Civil and Environmental Engineering
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