Enhancing Engineering Education With Writing To Learn And Cooperative Learning: Experiences From A Software Engineering Course

Current progressive teaching movements draw forth strong skepticism as they often seem antithetical to engineering classes. Why would anyone want to switch from the lecture method of teaching engineering to methods that employ active learning? Doesn’t lecturing produce the most informed engineers? Isn’t lecturing the best way to challenge students? To uphold the highest standards? Many hold the view that active learning methods may be appropriate for “soft” disciplines, but are inappropriate for engineering and the sciences. Others argue that students won’t take the course work seriously and that coverage of material would have to be sacrificed. The presenters will question the validity of these objections by defining learning goals, such as depth of learning, engagement, and retention, that should be considered during selection of teaching methods.