A presentation from the STEM Annual Conference 2014.
Electronic engineering undergraduate degree courses at Bangor University are rigorous and suffer higher than average attrition rates with some students lacking the skills to succeed in examinations and producing poor quality dissertations. The Study Skills Centre and School of Electronic Engineering have collaborated in the design and delivery of a 10-credit module for 1st year students aimed at addressing these challenges. The module is designed according to a blend of sociocultural and constructivist principles in which the students are taught processes through content and gradually introduced to the skills necessary for independent lifelong learning. Interactive discussion-based sessions form the core of teaching/learning activity as the module leads students through the development and production of a project of their own choosing aiming thus to reinforce their own reasons for choosing to study electronic engineering whilst at the same time developing the research and writing skills identified as being necessary for successful degree completion. The assessments combining individual and group work in order to build professional skills that are both personal and team-based include a portfolio of weekly assignments an individual research project a small group oral presentation and an in-class test of data analysis principles. The first iteration of this module concludes in December with some initial outcomes available for presentation at this conference.
