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Using online and multimedia resources to enhance the student learning experience in a telecommunications laboratory within an Australian university

2015; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 20; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.7158/d13-006.2015.20.1

2205-4952

PJ Vial, Sonja Nikolić, Montserrat Ros, David Stirling, P. Doulai,

Learning Styles and Cognitive Differences

ABSTRACTABSTRACTA laboratory component of an undergraduate telecommunications course consistently scored poorly for student learning experience on student surveys at an Australian university. Consultation with experienced academic staff revealed the need to modify the teaching resources available for the laboratory to include web-based multimedia and interactive resources. This new material was developed and made available to students and teaching staff in early 2011 via an Australian university e-learning package which was used to deliver the subject. The students and demonstrators were then encouraged to use this new resource to prepare for the three hour laboratory sessions. Surveys of students who took this laboratory in previous years were then compared to surveys of students using the latest version of the telecommunications laboratory in 2011 and 2012. The demonstrators themselves were also asked to provide feedback on their impressions of student learning. The comments from the laboratory demonstrators, feedback from the students, and assessment results indicate that the new online teaching material for both laboratory teaching staff and students has significantly improved the student learning experience. That this occurred two years in a row indicates that this improvement has ongoing benefits, irrespective of the teaching staff involved with the subject. The lessons learned can be applied to other similar learning environments.KEYWORDS: Telecommunicationsvideo instructionsmodular communications systeme-learning Additional informationNotes on contributorsPJ VialDr Peter James Vial is currently a Lecturer at the School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering at Wollongong University. Peter completed his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering in 1986, and worked as an Electrical Engineer at the Port Kembla Steelworks in Wollongong until 1991. In 1992 he became a Teaching Fellow at University of Wollongong, which was reclassified to Associate Lecturer. In 1996 he received his Masters in Telecommunications from University of Wollongong, and in 2000 he received a Diploma in Education (Mathematics). In 2004 he was promoted to Lecturer and in 2009 he received his PhD from University of Wollongong. He has been involved in developing and teaching both postgraduate and undergraduate engineering laboratories. His main research interest is in wireless communications systems, especially related to ultra-wideband systems. He maintains a keen interest in engineering education and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) based on his contribution to engineering education at the University of Wollongong since 1992. Peter is a member of the ARC Communications Research Network. He has been nominated twice for the Vice- Chancellor's Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning at the University of Wollongong by his students.S NikolicSasha Nikolic received his BE degree in telecommunications from the University of Wollongong in 2001. Since commencing as Laboratory Manager in 2006, he has been involved in improving and developing the teaching laboratories and sessional teaching staff with the University of Wollongong. In 2014, he became an Associate Lecturer in engineering education. Sasha became Chair of the NSW IEEE Education Chapter in 2014. He won a university Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning Award in 2011. In 2012, he was awarded a Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning as part of the Australian Awards for University Teaching.M RosDr Montserrat Ros received her BE (Hons1)/BSs double degree with majors in Computer Systems Engineering and Mathematics (2000), and the PhD degree in Computer Engineering (2007) from the University of Queensland in Brisbane. Between the years of 1998–2004, she worked as a tutor, research assistant and tutorial fellow at University of Queensland. In 2005, she lectured in the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science at the University of New England in Armidale, NSW. In 2006, she became a permanent Lecturer in Computer Engineering in the School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Wollongong, NSW, where she is currently a Senior Lecturer. Her research interests include embedded systems, sensor systems, microcontrollers, computer architecture and code compression. Montserrat is a member of the ARC Communications Research Network and Engineers Without Borders. She has won two University of Wollongong Vice- Chancellors awards for Teaching and Community Engagement.D StirlingDavid Stirling obtained his BEng degree from the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education (1976). He further obtained his MSc degree (Digital Techniques) in Digital Techniques from Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, UK (1980), and his PhD from the University of Sydney (1995). He has worked for over 18 years in several industries, most recently as a Principal Research Scientist with BHP Steel. He has recently taken up a position as Senior Lecturer at the University of Wollongong. His research interests are in Machine Learning and Data Mining.P DoulaiDr Parviz Doulai was Senior Lecturer at the School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering at Wollongong University up to the start of 2013. He received his BSc (Eng) degree in Electrical Engineering in 1977 (Iran), his MSc degree in Power Electronics Engineering in 1981 (England), and his PhD degree in 1991 (Australia). He began his career as a lecturer in Electrical and Computer Engineering. In 1994, Parviz established a research and development setup that aimed to incorporate state-of-art internet and web-related technologies into dynamic and interactive processes for educational and industrial applications. Parviz has published over 50 papers in the area of the educational effectiveness and student acceptance of internet/web-based learning resources. He has presented keynote talks in a number of local, regional and international conferences, was selected as an IEEE Sponsored Speaker, organised and chaired panel discussions on educational technologies, conducted a number of workshops at international conferences, and presented over 50 seminars and demonstrations in Australia and overseas on the topic of internet/web technology and applications and technology-enhanced tertiary education and cooperate training. Parviz's main research interests include multimedia and streaming technologies, applied engineering education, Internet embedded systems, energy systems and electric power quality, neural networks and intelligent agent technology.