Evaluation of Workbooks as an Active Learning Tool for Industrial Design Engineering

Abstract

Industrial design engineering combines technical rationality and reflective practice, to support students' reflection on their design process a workbook approach has been developed. The workbook approach guides students to reflect on open-ended design projects through cycles of reflections. A typical workbook consists of both written text, i.e., literature reviews and methods employed, and sketches and photos illustrating the process and its results. The workbook approach is currently implemented in five compulsory and several elective courses at Industrial Design Engineering (IDE). During 2020-22 a project was performed to evaluate the implementation of workbooks and get feedback from both active students, alumni and the faculty. Results show that workbooks support students' self-regulated learning, and the workbook's guided reflection is a valuable tool for reaching higher levels of learning in design. However, it seems that there is a need for a workbook framework to support both teachers and students in how to use the workbooks throughout the programme.

Longitudinal Evaluation of Self-Assessment and Peer Review in a Capstone Course

“…The role of the course in the program is to integrate knowledge and skills acquired previously in the program and focus on improving teamwork and interpersonal skills in a product design project. Initial reflections on the development of the course with a focus on academic writing have previously been presented in [1]. In the course, students work in small teams (3-4 students) that go through a design process with four phases.…”

“…For each phase, a facilitated peer review and formative feedback from the teaching team (oral presentation and written PM) are used to improve the design, presentations, and documentation. In 2015 a facilitated peer-review process was introduced work [1] where students review others' documentation (PM1-3) and give feedback on a draft document, which is then updated before the teaching teams give feedback. Peer review saves time for the coaches, in a typical course, peers do more than 150 reviews before the teachers see the document.…”

“…Formative feedback is essential because this is where students set the baseline of what is acceptable and what makes documentation excellent. Previous work [1] highlighted that most students appreciate the peer review sessions and believe it has improved the quality of the written documentation. The course evaluation also highlights that students think that the feedback from others is not the essential part; by reading others' documentation, they gain a better understanding of how good documentation is written.…”

“…Something that is often missing is that students need to learn how to evaluate others' work and give good feedback. One way of doing this is facilitated peer-review sessions [1], where several students read a text, provide individual feedback and then have to discuss their feedback with others. This encourages collaboration, highlights different views, and creates a shared understanding of good and bad.…”

“…It is also shown that the actual feedback is not the most crucial part. However, by reading and evaluating others' documentation, students also learn how to improve their own written text [1]. Peer review also empowers students to take ownership of their learning and encourages them to be active participants in the learning process and to take responsibility for their own progress.…”