the shift from behaviorist lecture design in a technology-related field to general competence...

Institut für Informatik und Wirtschaftsinformatik (ICB)

The Shift from Behaviourist Lecture Design in a Technology-Related Field to general Competence Development – A Case Study

Thomas Richter & Heimo H. Adelsberger


2

Course Design Development Over Time

n  1980s: Constructivist designed course on Production Modelling n  advanced study period n  < 20 students n  group discussions & comprehensive practical training included

n  1990s: Behaviourist designed course on Enterprise Resource Planning n  introductory study period n  120-180 students n  frontal lecture

n  Results after the change: n  students did not attend the lecture n  students memorised contents instead of comprehending n  50 % of the students failed the exam


3


n  2008: Lecture Changed to Cognitivist Design n  introductory study period n  120-180 students n  frontal lecture & voluntary practical SAP training n  extended learning materials w. many additional resources for

self-study n  predefined set of examination questions that required

comprehension instead of content reproduction available from 1st day of lecture; a “random” selection of those questions was announced to become the actual exam-questions

n  students were able to self-learn and free to attend the lecture

n  Results after the change: n  many students did not attend the lecture (expected) n  prepared students understood contents n  still 30-40 % of the students failed the exam in lack of sufficient

preparation


4


n  2012: Lecture Changed to Constructivist Design n  introductory study period n  120 students (in the semester of change) n  introductory and concluding frontal lecture n  4 block courses consisting of student group-presentations n  students had to collaboratively explore topic in large randomly

formed groups n  … do literature research on selected (given) ERP topic n  … write a scientific-like paper in English language n  … present their results (in English) for the other students n  … (individually) write a self-reflection on their experiences n  … pass an examination (same questions as in the

constructivist approach; just question set was not published before)

n  Students’ attendance in all events was mandatory and condition for qualification for exam

n  Results after the change: n  many students did not attend the lecture (expected) n  prepared students understood contents n  still 30-40 % of the students failed the exam in lack of sufficient

preparation


5


n  2012: Lecture Changed to Constructivist Design

n  Results after the 2012 change to constructivist design: n  most students attended the lectures and were qualified for

exam n  groups and individuals did their work n  failure rate in exam below 5%

n  But students additionally … n  improved English language skill n  trained presentation techniques n  trained scientific writing n  trained literature research n  got first experiences in group organization and work

organisation in groups


6

Course Schedule

!


7

Students’ Self-Reflection – Question 1

1. Collaboration in a Heterogeneous Group of Unfamiliar People In this course, you have been forced to collaborate with more or less foreign students. In this difficult constellation, you had to find together, divide tasks, do the work, join the work-pieces to something complete, and finally, hold the deadlines. What kind of conflicts did you experience and how did you solve the conflicts? What was the situation? How did you react and what was the consequence of your reaction? Whereto did you like to get with your reaction? Did your reaction lead to the intended result? If it did not, what might you have done to do it better?


8

Findings from Self-Reflection (Question 1)

n  32/100 students reported work was very effective n  17/100 students reported having found good way to

distribute work and stick to roles n  8/100 students reported meetings as positive experience n  5/100 students reported of significant work efforts in their

groups

n  18/100 students reported that group members did not respect deadlines

n  15/100 students reported communication challenges n  14/100 students reported that single group members refused

to do their work n  6/100 students reported of serious conflicts because of

different attitudes towards work


9


2. Having to Work in English Language Restricting all students’ outputs on English language may have been a big challenge. What did you feel about it? How did you finally cope with the situation (your strategy – what have you actually done)? Has your strategy been successful, so that you produced the best possible result you were able to? What could you have done better?


10


n  70/100 students did not experience major difficulties n  25/100 students expressed the opposite (major difficulties) n  20/100 students reported that the course was an excellent

chance to improve the English language skill n  16/100 students reported actually having improved their

English language skill n  13/100 students found out that their reading skill was too low

to comprehend contents and they had to systematically translate literature instead

n  8 students reported difficulties in writing English n  6 students experienced working in English as very time-

consuming

n  Most students reported that in preparation of their future jobs, they should improve their language skill by taking additional language courses


11


3. Following Formatting and Referencing Rules In this course, you have been confronted with the narrowly defined formatting and referencing conditions any scientific author needs to follow in order to publish a scientific paper. This might have been the very first time you experienced such “narrow minded” restrictions. What did you feel about it? Did your feelings influence your actions? Did you experience the task as being simple or was it difficult for you? Why? Have you finally been happy with the result you produced? What could you have done better?


12


n  33/100 students reported major difficulties in following such strict rules

n  16/100 students found it very time consuming n  58 students expressed it was a good chance to prepare for

writing their thesis n  11 students argued that those rules were hilarious pedantic n  5 students reported that the completely underestimated the

related efforts


13


4. Learning for the Life In this course, you have done many things, which were not directly linked to the actual topic of the course. What would you say that you have learned in this course and what else could you have learned, if you had chosen another strategy to deal with the situation? What would you do different in similar situations in the future?


14


n  19/100 students reported having got a first impression on how scientific work looks like

n  16/100 students reported that they massively improved their English skills

n  9/100 students welcomed the chance to hold a presentation n  8/100 students reported having learned a lot abot work

organization n  6/100 students found the exercises helpful to improve skills

in literature research n  6/100 students reported about how they learned to avoid/

solve conflicts in group work n  80/100 students mentioned the improvement of soft-skills n  5/100 students complained they did not learn enough about

Enterprise Resource Planning


15

Conclusions

n  The efforts for the instructors were much higher than in a frontal teaching scenario …

n  However:

n  Even though some students reported not having learned enough about ERP, 97.3 % of the students passed the exam, which used exactly the same questions like used in the cognitivist setting before.

n  Students reported having additionally achieved core-competences that are relevant for their future

à The result made the higher amount of efforts worthy!


16

Thank you for your attention!

If there remained any open questions, do not hesitate contacting me!

[email protected]

the shift from behaviorist lecture design in a technology-related field to general competence...

Education

lecture n students

time n

n prepared students

n students attendance

experiences n

contents n

deadlines n

comprehending n