STUDENT RESEARCH SKILLS DEVELOPMENT ON A LEVEL NINE TAUGHT PROGRAMME IN ENGINEERING: EXPERIENCES AND REFLECTIONS

This contribution will report, and reflect on, the teaching, learning and assessment of a research methods module on a level 9 taught programme in engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). The module was run, in a twelve-week period, for the first time in the 2008-9 academic year. The module is a generic one, the aim of which was to allow students to develop a clear and comprehensive proposal for the engineering research project; the module learning outcomes were designed to that end. A team-based approach was taken to module instruction. The author was responsible for instruction in the first three weeks of the module, in which a variety of research methodologies were introduced to students, and a student team brainstorming activity to solidify project topics and ideas was organised. This was followed by three weeks of information literacy activity, after which a formative assessment took place, involving students individually giving a reflective Power Point presentation on their chosen research topic. Subsequently, students were introduced to critical thinking, technical writing, and issues such as intellectual property, patenting and the research funding process. Students were assessed by means of a final presentation and a separate report on the research topic, in which it was expected that the research questions would be identified, the literature review developed, the research methodology made clear and the significance of the study established. The full poster contribution will reflect on the module experience, focusing on the lessons learned and the further development of the module. This reflection will be informed by a comparison made with a similar module run completely on-line on a separate part-time level nine engineering management programme.