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.