Mixture of term assignments, tutorials, laboratory assignments and problem based learning for masters degree in engineering: an alternative to traditional learning and examination forms

Abstract

We look at a course as a process of continuous learning and assessment of knowledge transfer to the students. In this context, we use a mixture of term assignments, tutorials, laboratory assignments and Problem Based Learning (PBL) for a Masters Degree course in Engineering. In this process, a mixture of modules is offered to enable the students to gain knowledge and to be responsible for their successes and failures. The "teacher" is viewed here as a person very tightly involved in the process and at the same time allowing enough freedom to the students to get their own experience in a selected area of interest in the context of problem based learning. We look into different scenarios of selecting the mixture of modules. We weigh the pros and cons of traditional learning / teaching and examining the students as compared to the modules mixture we are presenting. This method has been successfully implemented with good results in different departments and colleges in Norway and elsewhere. The paper ends up with an overview of students'/teachers' experience with such modules mixture courses with some comments and observations from peers. Finally, the implications of such educational method to the examination form are also briefly discussed.