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Investigating Student Teachers' Approach to Solving Applied Analytical Graphical Problems

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Conference

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

San Antonio, Texas

Publication Date

June 10, 2012

Start Date

June 10, 2012

End Date

June 13, 2012

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Assessment in Graphics Education

Tagged Division

Engineering Design Graphics

Page Count

18

Page Numbers

25.854.1 - 25.854.18

DOI

10.18260/1-2--21611

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/21611

Download Count

342

Paper Authors

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Thomas Delahunty University of Limerick

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Niall Seery University of Limerick Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-4199-4753

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Raymond Lynch University of Limerick

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Diarmaid Lane University of Limerick

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Abstract

An Evaluation of Assessment for Graphical Education at Middle SchoolAbstractThe Junior Certificate is a three year course of study taken by students generallyaged between 12 and 15 years of age and is similar to the Middle school system inthe United States in the nature of subjects typically taken. Students undertakingthe Junior Certificate course study a set of mandatory subjects including,Mathematics, English, Science and Geography and a set of elective subjects thatmay include the likes of Art and Technology Education. The Junior CertificateTechnical Graphics course was introduced in Ireland in 1989 and evolved fromthe previous subject of Mechanical Drawing. Technical Graphics is a three yearcourse and is assessed using a terminal examination at the end of the three years.The examination is summative in nature and is the only form of assessment usedto validate student learning at the conclusion of the course of study. Any form ofassessment, utilised in a course of study, can have significant implications forteaching and learning. A system which is dominated by a traditional summativeapproach to assessment can impart a negative influence on teaching and learningand ultimately lead to exam focused pedagogical strategies (Biggs and Tang2007).With the objective of analysing the dominant style of knowledge (procedural,declarative, strategic) elicited during a typical Technical Graphics examination, acase study which involved a visual protocol analysis, adapted from Middleton(2008), was devised and implemented. Second level students were tasked withcompleting a typical exam style graphical problem during their everydayTechnical Graphics classes and the solutions were recorded. The visual data wasanalysed to observe trends in students’ approaches to solving the problem and alsoto assess students using an alternative method which focused on the processstudents engaged with in formulating a solution.The study aims to illustrate some of the effects that summative assessmentstrategies have on students’ engagement with graphical problem solving. Inaddition, the limitations of the product of a summative strategy are discussed inrelation to portraying an accurate account of student graphical capability.

Delahunty, T., & Seery, N., & Lynch, R., & Lane, D. (2012, June), Investigating Student Teachers' Approach to Solving Applied Analytical Graphical Problems Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21611

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