Engineering and Information Technology Collected Works - Research Publications
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ItemMATLAB Grader for Flexible Automated Assessment and Feedback in Large-Scale Engineering Subjects(AAEE, 2022)CONTEXT: One of the challenges in teaching large classes is the implementation of effective assessment strategies that deliver high quality, timely, and consistent feedback. This is particularly difficult in engineering subjects where assessment tasks involve programming concepts. It has previously been reported that automated assessment tools can be beneficial when there are large numbers of students. The introduction of automated assessment tools can significantly reduce the effort associated with manual marking, eliminate marking inconsistencies arising from having multiple graders, and most importantly, improve student self-learning by providing near immediate feedback. PURPOSE: The objective of this project was to evaluate the implementation of MATLAB Grader as an automated assessment and feedback tool in three engineering subjects across different year levels. Various assessment strategies in the deployment of MATLAB Grader to maximise students learning and engagement will be explored in this paper, including the integration of MATLAB Grader into the University's current Learning Management System (LMS), Canvas. APPROACH: Various deployment and grading strategies for MATLAB Grader were applied across three subjects: a first-year introductory engineering subject, a second-year biomedical engineering subject, and a Masters-level mechanical engineering subject. In the first-year subject, MATLAB programming is introduced as a basic problem-solving tool in the application of engineering concepts, while both the second-year and Masters-level subjects build on this foundation to explore more complex programming concepts and engineering applications. Student outcomes and responses were evaluated for MATLAB Grader assessments set up with unlimited attempts in the first and secondyear subjects, versus those set up with limited attempts with pre-tests in the Masters-level subject. OUTCOMES: Cohort-wide surveys on student experience with MATLAB Grader have yielded positive results in both the first and second-year subjects. Students generally appreciated the ease of access to assessment problems via the LMS and having unlimited attempts for their assessments. However, the quality of feedback provided has been identified as an area for improvement for both subjects. For the Masters-level subject, informal surveys and discussions with students also indicated feedback as a major area for improvement. The limited attempts with pre-tests strategy combined with minor technical issues have resulted in anxiety in a subset of the cohort when making submissions. CONCLUSION: MATLAB Grader offers flexibility in automated assessment and feedback across different disciplinespecific engineering subjects and various year levels. The deployment and effectiveness of the platform is highly dependent on the specific learning objectives and focus of a particular subject.
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ItemImplementation of a Virtual Mechanics Laboratory for a first year undergraduate engineering subject using MATLAB App Designer(Australasian Association for Engineering Education, 2021)CONTEXT: In wake of the COVID-19 situation in 2020, when universities were faced with the transition from face-to-face learning to online delivery, many educators found themselves tasked with having to convert previously classroom-based teaching material to an equivalent online adaption. The transition was particularly challenging in a first-year engineering subject where hands-on laboratory experiments play an important part in the learning of basic mechanics principles as a foundation in engineering. Adaptation of physical hands-on experiments into the form of interactive virtual simulations was necessary to ensure students had an equally comprehensive laboratory experience in the online delivery mode. PURPOSE: This paper describes the development and implementation of a virtual laboratory for a set of mechanics experiments as an alternative to the physical hands-on laboratory. The interactive simulation application replicates the procedures of a physical mass-spring system investigation that applies two fundamental mechanics concepts, resultant forces and principle of moments. APPROACH: The virtual laboratory application is a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) integrated with a program code that models a physical spring system, developed in MATLAB App Designer. Key features of the application include animated outputs and virtual measurement tools that emulates the procedures of the actual experiment and MATLAB modelling that takes into account inconsistencies that may arise in real measurements. For deployment purposes, the simulation program in App Designer was compiled into a standalone executable and run using the MATLAB runtime environment. OUTCOMES: The virtual laboratory activity was successfully conducted during the online workshop classes in the first-year engineering subject at the University of Melbourne across a cohort of over 600 students. The simulation application in the virtual setting achieved similar learning outcomes as the experiments in the physical setting, but the activity was completed in significantly shorter times as compared to the expected physical hands-on. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The virtual experiments offered efficiencies over physical experiments in terms of minimising experimental procedure delays and allowing more focus on concepts and theories but unavoidably compromising other hands-on experience such as equipment set-up, calibration, real-world experimental observation, and troubleshooting. For a more comprehensive virtual laboratory experience, future work to model the virtual environment more accurately to represent real world behaviour is recommended.
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ItemLearning in the Panopticon: Examining the Potential Impacts of AI Monitoring on Students(ACM, 2022-11-29)In a panopticon, people are intrusively monitored across all areas of their lives. AI monitoring has been ever more widely adopted in ed- ucation, with increasingly intrusive monitoring of students. These changes potentially create ethical harms, but current ethical dis- cussions predominantly focus on legal and governance issues. The concerns of the majority of users—namely students—are neglected. Overlooking students’ concerns further increases their vulnerabil- ity. We use a student-centred and speculative approach through the Story Completion Method (SCM) to explore how students would po- tentially respond to intrusive AI monitoring in a higher education setting. Our study included 71 participants who elaborated on the story stems we provided to them. Through a blending of thematic analysis coding and the techniques of developing grounded the- ory, we reveal that the common responses of students to extensive AI monitoring included impacts on personal psychology, changed behaviour, and cognition. There are likely major disruptions to personal autonomy, identity and educational relationships. If we are to avoid a future ‘big brother’ classroom, further investigations using HCI methods are critical to understanding how to protect students in AI-dominated learning.
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ItemCompetencies of Cybersecurity Leaders: A Review and Research Agenda(Association for Information Systems, 2022)Increasingly, large organisations are turning to cybersecurity leaders such as chief information security officers (CISOs) to protect their information resources against attack. The role of the cybersecurity leader is distinct from other cybersecurity professionals in its need for strategy and collaboration, and distinct from other business leaders in its need to maintain situational awareness against active adversaries. Because the role is so new, however, organisations and educators continue to conceptualise it as a senior technological role rather than a strategic, business-oriented role. This representation leaves open a gap between what is viewed as ‘business’ and what is viewed as ‘IT’ – a gap that can leave organisations vulnerable to attack. In this systematic review, we examine the literature on cybersecurity leaders to develop a picture of the competencies required. Following analysis, we propose a preliminary matrix of competencies required for cybersecurity leaders. We conclude with an agenda for further research.
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ItemInternational contextual reliability of the Empathy and Care Questionnaire: the Australian context(Australasian Association for Engineering Education, 2022)Context: Empathy has been identified as a key employability skill for professionals, underlying many skills and attributes anticipated as required by future engineers. The relevance and development of empathy and care as perceived by engineers has been quantitatively described in the USA and Germany using the Empathy and Care Questionnaire (ECQ). Cross—national variations in empathy have been reported outside of the engineering context. Purpose or Goal: Building on research from the US and Germany, the aim of this paper is to confirm the transferability of the factor structure of the ECQ (Hess, Strobel, Pan, et al., 2017) in the Australian context. Given the influence of national culture on the development and experience of empathy, establishing contextual reliability of the ECQ is important to ensure conceptual consistency before conducting data analysis. Approach or Methodology/Methods: This paper presents a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the ECQ using data collected from engineers practicing in Australia. Engineers’ perceptions of empathy and care within Australian engineering practice were collected using an online version of the ECQ (N = 183). A CFA was conducted to establish transferability of the item structure to the Australian context. Outcomes: A marginal fit of the structure of Hess, Strobel, Pan, et al. (2017)‘s five-factor model was indicated. Modification through incorporation of covariance errors improved the fit. These errors were observed to be associated with the wording of the items. The ECQ structure comprising of factors: i) existence of empathy and care within engineering work and practice, ii) importance of empathy and care within engineering practice, iii) potential benefits of a greater inclusion of empathy and care into engineering, iv) the value of empathy and care in relational aspects of engineering work, and v) the extent to which empathy and care are considered learnable, was found to transfer to the Australian context. Additionally, the factor relating to learnability of empathy and care exhibited comparatively lower internal consistency than other factors. Conclusions/Recommendations/Summary: The ECQ can be used with confidence in the structure transferring from the US context, for describing perceptions of empathy and care of engineers practicing in Australia. There are opportunities for further research to explore national context, and to enhance the structure and internal reliability of the instrument.
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ItemActor perceptions of gender quotas for Australian boards(ANZAM, 2022)Understanding actors’ perceptions of quotas provides an indication of how debate and action relating to board gender composition in Australia may progress. This research investigates actors’ attitudes towards gender quotas for corporate boards in Australia. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 27 actors including ASX 200 directors, civil servants, investors, journalists, executive search firms, shareholder, and advocacy organisations. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data. The research uncovered a stark polarisation between actors “for” and “against” board gender quotas. Quotas remain an emotive topic where actors appear to find reasoned debate and discussion difficult.
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ItemQuality and benefits of engineering industry placements: insights from students and graduates.(ACEN, 2022)Engineering relevant work experience is required for graduation with a tertiary engineering qualification from many Australian institutions. This requirement is frequently met by completion of industry placements. A collaborative workshop in 2021 hosted by Engineers Australia with current engineering students and industry supervisors revealed engagement with engineering practice through placements has been challenging due to COVID and other issues. A multi‐stakeholder study of engagement with engineering practice was undertaken, involving industry, recent graduates, and engineering students. The study aimed to better understand these issues with a view to improving the experience for all stakeholders. This paper draws on responses to a survey of student engineers and recent engineering graduates (N = 777) exploring their experiences of industry placements in the current climate. The findings provide insight into what makes a good placement from the perception of student engineers and recent graduates and highlights opportunities for improving placement quality and outcomes.
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ItemEarly Career Patterns, Experiences, and Influences: Reflections from Women Engineers in Senior Roles(SEFI, 2022)Early career experiences provide the foundation for career progression and inform career choices and decisions. For women in the engineering profession, positive early career experiences have been linked to persistence and retention within the profession A recent focus on early careers within engineering has provided insight into early career role types and related competencies, competency and capability gaps experienced by novice engineers, and their perceptions of meaningful engineering work. There is opportunity to diversify and contextualise this understanding by exploring early career experiences of women working within the engineering profession, and by considering the influence of gender on early career experiences and decisions. This paper reports on an empirical investigation of the career experiences of 22 women engineers in senior roles within engineering organisations in the Australian context. Phenomenological and temporal analysis of their career reflections provides evidence of three early career patterns of varied sequence and focus. The influences shaping these career paths are described. By making explicit possible, diverse early career paths, determinants and outcomes, this paper aims to continue to bridge the engineering education-practice gap and to contribute to greater equality, diversity, and inclusion within the profession.
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ItemEngineers' perceptions of the importance of empathy and care: initial insights from engineers practicing in Australia(SEFI, 2022)Empathy and care influence aspects of engineering practice including collaboration and teamwork, stakeholder engagement, and quality of work. Empathy has been identified as a key employability skill for professionals, and is the foundation for many skills and attributes anticipated as required by future engineers. Therefore, the understanding of empathy and care, and consideration of the development of empathetic and caring competencies are increasingly relevant for engineering education. Recent studies have explored the conceptualisation of and value placed on empathy and care in engineering practice, from the perspectives of practicing engineers in US and German contexts. We broaden this to include the Australian setting. Engineers’ perceptions of empathy and care within Australian engineering practice were collected using an online version of the Empathy and Care Questionnaire (ECQ) instrument developed by Hess, Strobel, Pan and Wachter Morris (N = 183). Statistical analysis of survey questions relating to the perceived importance and benefits of empathy and care to engineers, and relevance within a range of engineering practice situations was undertaken. Analysis of gender, years of experience, and organisational role indicated that female engineers perceived empathy and care to be more important, and more impactful on engineering practice than male engineers. Perceptions of empathy and care did not vary with duration of engineering work experience, however engineers in positions of organisational leadership placed greater importance on empathy and care in their roles than others. These differences contrast with results of the US and German studies. Further analysis is required to understand where, when and why these differences occur.
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ItemIndividual Differences in Musically-Evoked Chills(Musicological Society of Australia, 2022-12-01)Recent research into individual differences and music listening has unveiled associations between personality traits and music preferences. However, the link between individual differences, including personality traits and cognitive styles, and musically-evoked chills (MECs) is yet to be established. This study therefore investigates the relationship between individual differences and the experience of chills in music listening. A literature review on current research investigating personality traits, cognitive styles, and the experience of MECs was conducted. In tandem, a review of key music listening apps and algorithms that are employed to suggest personalised music on streaming platforms such as Spotify was undertaken. The findings of the literature review reveal positive associations between openness to experience, empathy, the music empathising cognitive style, and MECs. This presentation will also provide an overview and discussion of current algorithms and music listening apps. Based on the key findings of this study, a theoretical model is proposed that speculates the interplay between individual differences and MECs. Future research is encouraged into real-world applications such as improved algorithms for creating personalised playlists to target the pleasurable chill response and subsequent dopamine hit. By improving algorithms to account for differing personality traits and cognitive styles, music listening’s potential to positively impact subjective wellbeing may be enhanced.