{"title":"Minecraft Game as a New Opportunity for Teaching Renewable Energy Topics","authors":"Tamás Kersánszki, Ildikó Holik, Zoltán Márton","doi":"10.3991/ijep.v13i5.36287","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v13i5.36287","url":null,"abstract":"In today’s Public Education Sector, the need for creative education is becoming more and more prominent. An excellent method for achieving this is gamification, which provides an opportunity to activate and motivate students by playfully processing the desired knowledge material. Minecraft is a multi-platform video game that can be successfully used in gamified education. This game platform is used at one of the summer camps we announced for elementary and high school students (10–16 years old). The participants mastered the topics of renewable energy sources with the help of the Minecraft game. This study describes the methods used in the camp and presents the research results on the effectiveness of the camp. The students’ current level of knowledge was examined with a questionnaire about renewable energy sources, and the collaborative skills questionnaire was used to assess the collaboration characteristics, and the school creative climate questionnaire was used to explore specific features of the camp. The practical results of the camp and the research results proved that gamification, the use of Minecraft, was excellent for arousing students’ interest, increasing their motivation, and helping them master the knowledge materials, effective task solving, and cooperation (i.e., the camp was equally effective from the point of view of knowledge acquisition and collaboration).","PeriodicalId":45481,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48110262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Theresa Green, W. Goodridge, Daniel Kane, Natalie L. Shaheen
{"title":"Spatial Strategies Employed by Blind and Low-Vision (BLV) Individuals on the Tactile Mental Cutting Test (TMCT)","authors":"Theresa Green, W. Goodridge, Daniel Kane, Natalie L. Shaheen","doi":"10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38021","url":null,"abstract":"Spatial ability is a well-known predictor of success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The purpose of this study was to investigate and understand the spatial strategies that were used by blind and low-vision (BLV) individuals as they solved problems on the tactile mental cutting test (TMCT), an instrument that was designed to measure the spatial ability of BLV audiences. The TMCT is an accessible adaptation of the older, 1938 version of the mental cutting test (MCT) that has been used extensively in spatial ability research. Additionally, this paper seeks to compare these strategies with existing strategies that have been investigated with sighted populations. The BLV community is underrepresented in engineering and in spatial ability research. By understanding how BLV students understand and solve spatial problems and concepts, educators can develop and enhance educational content that is relevant to this population. By incorporating perspectives from the BLV community and making STEM curricula accessible to this population, more BLV individuals may be encouraged to pursue STEM or engineering career pathways.","PeriodicalId":45481,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43370182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Diana A. Chen, Marissa H. Forbes, G. Hoople, S. Lord, J. Mejia
{"title":"The “Who” in Engineering: Sociotechnical Engineering as Memorable and Relevant","authors":"Diana A. Chen, Marissa H. Forbes, G. Hoople, S. Lord, J. Mejia","doi":"10.3991/ijep.v13i5.36571","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v13i5.36571","url":null,"abstract":"Does emphasizing the role of people in engineering influence the memorability of engineering content? This study is part of a larger project through which our team developed a new undergraduate energy course to better reflect students’ cultures and lived experiences through asset-based pedagogies to help students develop a sociotechnical mindset in engineering problem solving. In this study, students in the class were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews (n=5) to explore our effectiveness in helping them develop a sociotechnical mindset around energy issues and conceptualize engineering as a sociotechnical endeavor. This study focuses on an activity during the interview where the participants were asked to sort a variety of images associated with class learning experiences along a spectrum of least to most memorable. Emergent themes from students’ responses revolved around learning experiences that included global perspectives and emphasized a “who” (i.e., whose problems, who is impacted by engineering, and what type of engineers the students will choose to become) as the most memorable. Our results indicate that students found the sociotechnical aspects of the course more memorable than the traditional canonical engineering content. These findings suggest that framing engineering content as sociotechnical can be one strategy to increase student engagement, increase memorability of lessons, and help students to think more deeply about their own goals as future engineers.","PeriodicalId":45481,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46650574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abdelmajid Tahiri, A. Chikhaoui, Jalal Assermouh, M. Halim, Samiha Benfares
{"title":"Contribution of Online Tutoring in Promoting the Quality of Distance Learning for Moroccan Teachers","authors":"Abdelmajid Tahiri, A. Chikhaoui, Jalal Assermouh, M. Halim, Samiha Benfares","doi":"10.3991/ijep.v13i5.34047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v13i5.34047","url":null,"abstract":"This paper aims at highlighting the contribution of online tutoring to the quality of distance learning (DL) and its effect on the progress and success of learners. The aim is, therefore, to judge the role of the tutor and the effect of his or her intervention on satisfying the real needs of Moroccan teachers in terms of learning during continuous training in DL mode. This study is grounded on a literature review regarding the effectiveness of tutoring and the qualitative analysis of data collected from a series of semi-structured interviews with actors (N=20) involved in the DL of Moroccan teachers. This study was achieved by the analysis of the results of a questionnaire returned by teachers (sample n=180) who were beneficiaries of the DL entitled “Communication in the Classroom,” which was provided by the Distance Learning for Students, Teachers and Professionals Association (FADEEP). The results emphasize the importance of factors relating to the effectiveness of tutoring in the quality of the DL and, more particularly, to the relevance of the tutor’s answers and his or her availability on the platform—and consequently, in the success of the learner—in addition to the material and technical, pedagogical, organizational, socio-political, and socio-cultural factors and factors linked to the learner of course.","PeriodicalId":45481,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43325598","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Yupanqui-Lorenzo, E. Olivera-Carhuaz, Antonio A. Reynaga Alponte, Víctor Pulido-Capurro, C. Carbajal-León, Manuel Antonio Cardoza Sernaqué
{"title":"Explanatory Model on Academic Self-Efficacy in Engineering Students: Role of Anxiety, Dysthymia, and Negative Affect","authors":"D. Yupanqui-Lorenzo, E. Olivera-Carhuaz, Antonio A. Reynaga Alponte, Víctor Pulido-Capurro, C. Carbajal-León, Manuel Antonio Cardoza Sernaqué","doi":"10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38577","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38577","url":null,"abstract":"Students in engineering tend to be loners, making interpersonal relationships and mental health issues more likely to arise. The COVID pandemic caused university students to experience anxiety and depression, which affected their academic performance and self-esteem. However, students’ mental health was rarely evaluated after the pandemic, especially engineering students, who showed higher levels of depression than students from other disciplines. The present study aims to establish an explanatory model of academic self-efficacy based on factors related to mental health, such as anxiety, depression, and negative emotions. The method used was quantitative cross-sectional, and a structural equation modeling was used. A sample of 561 students (54.4% males and 45.6% females) was analyzed. Instruments to measure self-efficacy, negative affect, depression, and anxiety, previously validated and with adequate reliability, were applied. The results showed that a state of anxiety affects academic self-efficacy negatively and directly; depression and negative affect indirectly affect academic self-efficacy mediated by a state of anxiety. These results show that a student with depression problems and a predominance of negative emotions is vulnerable to present anxiety in an academic setting. This anxiety causes his efficacy beliefs to decrease. As a result, he does not feel capable of facing academic challenges.","PeriodicalId":45481,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44057614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Teaching Vocational Subjects in Secondary School: A New Career or a Backup Plan?","authors":"Petr Adamec","doi":"10.3991/ijep.v13i5.37555","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v13i5.37555","url":null,"abstract":"For several years now, not only in the Czech Republic, we have been witnessing various discussions related to the issue of secondary vocational education, especially the shortage and decline of erudite and qualified teachers of vocational subjects. Another issue that increases the demand for new teachers is the ageing of the teaching staff of secondary vocational schools. The government and education policy are responding to this situation in various ways—by increasing salaries, mitigating qualification requirements, promoting qualification training, etc. The objective of this paper is to present a course aimed at qualifying teachers of vocational subjects for secondary schools and to report the results of a survey conducted among its participants. The results were compared according to selected socio-demographic characteristics. The new three-semester course has been implemented since 2020 at a public university in the Czech Republic, which has almost 60 years of experience in various forms of secondary school teachers of vocational subjects training within their fields of specialization. The survey was conducted via an electronic questionnaire and received responses from 100 respondents. The most interesting results include, for example, that about 60% of the respondents attended the course in order to obtain a qualification as a teacher of vocational subjects for secondary schools for possible future use—to strengthen their employability opportunities on the labour market, not because they are already working at a secondary school or because they currently need this qualification.","PeriodicalId":45481,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49367854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Teeratat Sopakitiboon, S. Tuampoemsab, S. Howimanporn, S. Chookaew
{"title":"Implementation of New-Product Creativity through an Engineering Design Process to Foster Engineering Students’ Higher-Order Thinking Skills","authors":"Teeratat Sopakitiboon, S. Tuampoemsab, S. Howimanporn, S. Chookaew","doi":"10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38863","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38863","url":null,"abstract":"Many studies in engineering education believe that higher-order thinking skills (HOTs) are a fundamental competency for engineering students. Polymer engineering students study and analyze the character and structure of polymer materials and use that knowledge to design innovative new products. However, students might need more applied contexts to creativity and learning motivation in polymer material instruction. This paper is a study to present new-product creativity (NPC) through the engineering design process (EDP) for polymer engineering students. The quasi-experimental design was implemented in the learning activity of the polymer-processing laboratory course. A total of 21 participants were recruited from two groups of students (10 were in the experimental group, and 11 were in the control group) at a university in Thailand. The experimental results showed that the students who learned with NPC-EDP had better HOTs in the polymer-processing laboratory course than those who learned with conventional learning. In addition, the students also showed that they were motivated to learn meaningfully in engineering education.","PeriodicalId":45481,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42195663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Virtual Laboratory Learning Environment: VLLE on Metaverse for University in Thailand","authors":"Pinanta Chatwattana, Pischa Saisong, Kannikar Rojanapasnichwong, Wichittra Khiankhokkruad","doi":"10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38565","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38565","url":null,"abstract":"The virtual laboratory learning environment on metaverse, or VLLE on metaverse, is a kind of learning media in the virtual world, which can be accessed through a virtual laboratory in the form of metaverse. To enter VLLE on metaverse, users must simulate themselves in the form of 3D avatar, and then they are able to perform any tasks and interact with any objects or surrounding environments therein, which are all virtual images. The study question of this research focuses on the steps and methods related to the development of media for use in VLLE on metaverse and on what design features are satisfactory and would be well accepted by participants. In this study, the researchers have applied concepts and new teaching innovations that correspond to the current situations and can support the learning formats that can be done anywhere and anytime. This practice is believed to promote self-directed learning experiences and other skills while allowing students to evaluate their activities on their own as well. The research results are in line with the researchers’ expectations: it was found that VLLE on metaverse can be used as a public interaction tool through mobile applications for the university population and the general public outside. This is because new technologies have been developed and employed in the media and the existing technologies in such a way that an environment close to the real learning conditions can be produced, which can create a learning society without borders.","PeriodicalId":45481,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41885793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
K. Orynbekova, A. Bogdanchikov, S. Cankurt, A. Adamov, S. Kadyrov
{"title":"MapReduce Solutions Classification by Their Implementation","authors":"K. Orynbekova, A. Bogdanchikov, S. Cankurt, A. Adamov, S. Kadyrov","doi":"10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38867","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38867","url":null,"abstract":"Distributed Systems are widely used in industrial projects and scientific research. The Apache Hadoop environment, which works on the MapReduce paradigm, lost popularity because new, modern tools were developed. For example, Apache Spark is preferred in some cases since it uses RAM resources to hold intermediate calculations; therefore, it works faster and is easier to use. In order to take full advantage of it, users must think about the MapReduce concept. In this paper, a usual solution and MapReduce solution of ten problems were compared by their pseudocodes and categorized into five groups. According to these groups’ descriptions and pseudocodes, readers can get a concept of MapReduce without taking specific courses. This paper proposes a five-category classification methodology to help distributed-system users learn the MapReduce paradigm fast. The proposed methodology is illustrated with ten tasks. Furthermore, statistical analysis is carried out to test if the proposed classification methodology affects learner performance. The results of this study indicate that the proposed model outperforms the traditional approach with statistical significance, as evidenced by a p-value of less than 0.05. The policy implication is that educational institutions and organizations could adopt the proposed classification methodology to help learners and employees acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to use distributed systems effectively.","PeriodicalId":45481,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42058747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fernando Carrión-Robles, Verónica Espinoza-Celi, Alba Vargas-Saritama
{"title":"The Use of Augmented Reality through Assemblr Edu to Inspire Writing in an Ecuadorian EFL Distance Program","authors":"Fernando Carrión-Robles, Verónica Espinoza-Celi, Alba Vargas-Saritama","doi":"10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v13i5.38049","url":null,"abstract":"This study analyzed the effectiveness of using augmented reality (AR) through the Assemblr Edu platform to improve English as a foreign language (EFL) writing skills in distance education. The participants included 40 freshmen university students who speak English at a basic level. This case study was approached through the mixed method. The data collection instruments encompassed a pre-test, a post-test, written tasks assessed through a rubric, and a survey. Findings evidenced that Assemblr Edu enhanced participants’ writing-skill development in terms of organization and structure of paragraphs as well as grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation. This was thanks to the augmented reality elements in 3D, which allowed the designing of teaching material incorporating interactive activities, videos, images, and multimedia elements.","PeriodicalId":45481,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49547410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}