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Process Teaching and Learning in Engineering Education

Sheryl Duggins, Ph.D. Associate Professor School of Computing and Software Engineering Southern Polytechnic State University Marietta, GA 30060 sduggins@spsu.edu

Abstract This paper explores the process-oriented constructivist theory of teaching and learning which has its roots in cognitive psychology, philosophy, learning theory, and education theory. A process model for teaching and learning software engineering is proposed and an initial set of maturity levels are defined. This process-based model for teaching and learning attempts to bridge the gap between constructivist theory and engineering education by graphically depicting the learning process from three evolving perspectives: the black box, the memory state, and clear box descriptions. The Maturity Process Teaching Model proposed here incorporates the ideas of constructivism, operational definitions, process-improvement, and Capability Maturity Model- based maturity levels and applies them to process teaching.

1. Introduction

One of the many challenges facing engineering educators is how to teach the subject matter in a way that both does justice to the material and stimulates the students to learn. This paper explores the process-oriented constructivist theory of teaching and learning which has its roots in cognitive psychology, philosophy, learning theory, and education theory. The constructivist approach to teaching focuses on active and cooperative learning in which the student is actively engaged in the learning process. In addition to referring to an educational philosophy, the term constructivism applies both to the underlying learning theory, which has its foundations in research in cognitive psychology, as well as to epistemology, or the nature of knowledge. This multi-disciplined approach suggests that the way educators teach should be based on how students learn, which should be directly related to the nature of knowledge and meaning.

A process-based maturity model for teaching engineering is proposed based on the constructivist theory of learning. The role of process as it relates to teaching and learning engineering is investigated and a maturity process teaching model is presented. To illustrate different levels of process understanding of student learning, box structures are utilized and examined from the perspective of the maturity teaching model. Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition

Copyright Ó 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

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Duggins, S. (2002, June), Process Teaching And Learning In Engineering Education Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10623