Active learning by involvement in classroom

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the effect of strengthened student involvement in an engineering classroom on their learning. The availability of online lectures has made learning more flexible. However, this can reduce the attendance of students in face to face lectures as students may excessively depend on the recorded lectures. Reduced attendance in lectures can significantly affect the deep and meaningful learning of units which is considered essential in an engineering course. Direct involvement of students in solving of problems was increased in the classroom activities in one part (part A) of a unit. The effect of strengthened student involvement on their learning was evaluated by looking at the attendance of students and their performance in the assessments. It was observed attendance increased and more students attempted questions of part “A” than the other parts of the examination paper. When performances in different parts of the unit were compared, it was found that lectures with strengthened student involvement improved their confidence on the topics. Thus, increased involvement or engagement of students in the classroom helped achieve deeper learning. Therefore, increased student involvement in lectures can help maintain high student attendance in classrooms when web-based lectures are also available for students to access at any time. The benefits of these web-based lecture systems can thus be maximised to promote deeper learning by involving students more in the classroom activities.