Asee peer logo

Active, Topic-centered Learning

Download Paper |

Conference

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Tampa, Florida

Publication Date

June 15, 2019

Start Date

June 15, 2019

End Date

June 19, 2019

Conference Session

Mathematics Division Technical Session 1

Tagged Division

Mathematics

Page Count

17

DOI

10.18260/1-2--32032

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/32032

Download Count

459

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Guisela Alejandra Illescas Ms Universidad Galileo

visit author page

Guisela Illescas is the Administrative Coordinator and Assistant Professor of the Applied Math Deparment in Universidad Galileo. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science and a Master in Reingeneering.

visit author page

biography

Alberth E. Alvarado Universidad Galileo

visit author page

Alberth Alvarado received (with honors) the B.S. degree in Electronics and Computer Science Engineering from Universidad Francisco Marroquín in 2004; the M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2010 and 2014, respectively. Currently, Dr. Alvarado is the Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics at Universidad Galileo in Guatemala, Guatemala.

visit author page

biography

Jose Roberto Portillo Universidad Galileo

visit author page

Roberto Portillo is a mathematics instructor and sub-director of the Teaching Assistants Department of Universidad Galileo in Guatemala. He holds a Bs. in Electronics and Computer Science and a Ms. in Operations Research. In several years he was awarded with the "Excellence in Teaching" award. His current research interests are focused in Engineering Education.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

It is well known that active learning techniques involve students in their own learning and there is no doubt about their effectiveness. However, each technique is suitable for certain kinds of courses. Therefore, in this paper, we present a novel active learning methodology to teach engineering mathematics courses, called Topic Centered Learning (TCL). Our approach relies on (i) a clever and meticulous session to session segmentation of each of the topics that need to be covered in the course; (ii) design of problem solving sessions minimizing the time invested on lectures (a hands on experience); and (iii) link between mathematics and engineering is reinforced via short projects. All the details of the afore presented methodology are also discussed.

In order to test our methodology, we use it to teach an integral calculus course with a sample of 200 students. We measure the students’ understanding of each of the topics of the course and compare it with the results of previous years. In summary, the average midterms grades and their rate of approval improved significantly, compared with the previous four years. Note that all the exams’ rates of approval, obtained using the proposed methodology, are above 60%.

Illescas, G. A., & Alvarado, A. E., & Portillo, J. R. (2019, June), Active, Topic-centered Learning Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--32032

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2019 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015