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G. van Helden
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FIETS
A tool for assessing the embedding of theory in engineering education intervention research
Journal article
(2025)
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Gitte van Helden, Vivian van der Werf, Johannes Schleiss, Gillian Saunders-Smits
Engineering Education Research (EER) is characterised as having low consensus due to its diversity of perspectives and approaches. Educational theories are important for establishing consensus as they can ground the design and analysis of educational interventions in scientific discourse. Hence, to aid EER researchers in evaluating theory use while conducting (systematic) literature reviews on educational interventions, our paper introduces a quality assessment tool: the Framework for Identifying the Embedding of TheorieS (FIETS). FIETS systematises and informs the analysis of 1) which educational theories are reported in a body of literature, and 2) to what extent these theories are embedded in the design and analysis of an educational intervention. We detail the development of FIETS over multiple iterations, explain its use, and showcase its application using a case study from an existing systematic literature review. We demonstrate the insights that can be generated and how researchers can benefit from this tool.
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Engineering Education Research (EER) is characterised as having low consensus due to its diversity of perspectives and approaches. Educational theories are important for establishing consensus as they can ground the design and analysis of educational interventions in scientific discourse. Hence, to aid EER researchers in evaluating theory use while conducting (systematic) literature reviews on educational interventions, our paper introduces a quality assessment tool: the Framework for Identifying the Embedding of TheorieS (FIETS). FIETS systematises and informs the analysis of 1) which educational theories are reported in a body of literature, and 2) to what extent these theories are embedded in the design and analysis of an educational intervention. We detail the development of FIETS over multiple iterations, explain its use, and showcase its application using a case study from an existing systematic literature review. We demonstrate the insights that can be generated and how researchers can benefit from this tool.
The Use of Digital Peer Assessment in Higher Education
An Umbrella Review of Literature
Increasing student numbers in higher education, particularly in engineering and computer science, make it difficult for motivated lecturers to continue engaging in active teaching methods such as Flipped Classrooms and Work-Based Learning. In these settings, digital Peer Assessment can be one approach to provide effective and scalable feedback. In Peer Assessment, students assess each other’s performance whilst gaining useful reflection and judgment skills at the same time. This umbrella review of 14 review papers on the use of (digital) Peer Assessment in education provides a comprehensive overview of design choices and their consequences open to educational practitioners wishing to implement digital Peer Assessment in their courses, the type of tooling available and the possible effects of these choices on the learning outcomes as well as potential pitfalls and challenges when implementing Peer Assessment. The paper will inform and assist educators in finding or developing a tool that fits their needs.
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Increasing student numbers in higher education, particularly in engineering and computer science, make it difficult for motivated lecturers to continue engaging in active teaching methods such as Flipped Classrooms and Work-Based Learning. In these settings, digital Peer Assessment can be one approach to provide effective and scalable feedback. In Peer Assessment, students assess each other’s performance whilst gaining useful reflection and judgment skills at the same time. This umbrella review of 14 review papers on the use of (digital) Peer Assessment in education provides a comprehensive overview of design choices and their consequences open to educational practitioners wishing to implement digital Peer Assessment in their courses, the type of tooling available and the possible effects of these choices on the learning outcomes as well as potential pitfalls and challenges when implementing Peer Assessment. The paper will inform and assist educators in finding or developing a tool that fits their needs.
Grounding the design of educational interventions and their analysis in theory allows us to understand and interpret results of interventions and advance educational theories. Moreover, building an understanding of which educational theories are used and how they are used can build a consensus among researchers and mature the research in a field. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which educational theories are used to ground the design, analysis, and evaluation of learning activities in engineering education. For this purpose, we developed a coding instrument to determine: (1) which educational theories are expressed in studies investigating learning activities and interventions, and (2) the extent to which these theories inform (a) the design of an intervention and (b) the analysis of that intervention. The instrument was applied to a sample of 12 studies from an existing literature review on collaborative engineering design activities to demonstrate the relevance of the developed framework. Results reveal that most studies refer to educational theory, primarily pedagogical approaches such as project-based learning. Furthermore, half of the time, the design of learning interventions is grounded in theory, however, the evaluation of those interventions is often not connected to educational theories.
...
Grounding the design of educational interventions and their analysis in theory allows us to understand and interpret results of interventions and advance educational theories. Moreover, building an understanding of which educational theories are used and how they are used can build a consensus among researchers and mature the research in a field. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which educational theories are used to ground the design, analysis, and evaluation of learning activities in engineering education. For this purpose, we developed a coding instrument to determine: (1) which educational theories are expressed in studies investigating learning activities and interventions, and (2) the extent to which these theories inform (a) the design of an intervention and (b) the analysis of that intervention. The instrument was applied to a sample of 12 studies from an existing literature review on collaborative engineering design activities to demonstrate the relevance of the developed framework. Results reveal that most studies refer to educational theory, primarily pedagogical approaches such as project-based learning. Furthermore, half of the time, the design of learning interventions is grounded in theory, however, the evaluation of those interventions is often not connected to educational theories.
Higher educational institutions have broadly adopted Collaborative Engineering Design (CED) activities to prepare students for complex problem-solving in multidisciplinary settings. These activities are non-linear and mediated by various social practices and tools. Therefore educators might struggle in facilitating the achievement of specific learning goals. Embodied cognition is an approach that explains non-linear behaviour through orgamism-environment interactions and might therefore provide educators with insights on how to prompt students towards desired actions in CED activities. According to embodied cognition, we learn through actions that emerge as a response to a problem (task) and environmental constraints. Educators can guide students’ behaviour by proposing tasks and adapting the environmental constraints of a learning situation, thus creating a field of promoted action. In this paper, we outline the progress of a design-based research in which insights from embodied cognition are implemented to promote desired student behaviour in CED activities. We report on the results of our problem-exploration phase. A systematic literature review and focus groups with students revealed that students are often hesitant to adopt new practices and tools that could potentially improve their collaborative design process. Next, we propose three theory-based design principles in which the task and environmental constraints are leveraged to foster the adoption of practices and tools and apply them to CED activities. Finally, we will share preliminary observations of the learning processes triggered by the designed activities and outline the directions for future research.
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Higher educational institutions have broadly adopted Collaborative Engineering Design (CED) activities to prepare students for complex problem-solving in multidisciplinary settings. These activities are non-linear and mediated by various social practices and tools. Therefore educators might struggle in facilitating the achievement of specific learning goals. Embodied cognition is an approach that explains non-linear behaviour through orgamism-environment interactions and might therefore provide educators with insights on how to prompt students towards desired actions in CED activities. According to embodied cognition, we learn through actions that emerge as a response to a problem (task) and environmental constraints. Educators can guide students’ behaviour by proposing tasks and adapting the environmental constraints of a learning situation, thus creating a field of promoted action. In this paper, we outline the progress of a design-based research in which insights from embodied cognition are implemented to promote desired student behaviour in CED activities. We report on the results of our problem-exploration phase. A systematic literature review and focus groups with students revealed that students are often hesitant to adopt new practices and tools that could potentially improve their collaborative design process. Next, we propose three theory-based design principles in which the task and environmental constraints are leveraged to foster the adoption of practices and tools and apply them to CED activities. Finally, we will share preliminary observations of the learning processes triggered by the designed activities and outline the directions for future research.
Collaborative Learning in Engineering Design Education
A Systematic Literature Review
Journal article
(2023)
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Gitte van Helden, Barry T.C. Zandbergen, Marcus M. Specht, Eberhard K.A. Gill
Contribution: This article presents a comprehensive overview of characteristics of educational designs of collaborative engineering design activities found in literature and how these characteristics mediate students' collaboration. Background: Engineers have to solve complex problems that require collaboration. In education, various collaborative engineering design activities have been implemented to prepare students for these professional practices. According to cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), educational activities can be described in terms of interrelated elements, i.e., subject, object, tools, rules, division of labor, and community, that influence learning outcomes. A key issue is how these elements mediate students' collaborative efforts and how they contribute to learning. Research Questions: 1) How is collaborative learning implemented in engineering design education? 2) How do the elements of CHAT and their interrelations mediate collaborative learning? and 3) What is the evidence that the implementation of collaborative learning contributed to the achievement of desired learning outcomes? Methodology: A systematic literature review following preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analyses protocols guidelines was conducted, including 111 articles published between 2011 and 2021. CHAT was used as analytical framework. Findings: Collaborative learning was implemented in engineering design activities to develop technical as well as nontechnical skills. For the CHAT elements, it was found that establishing a common object, rules for collaboration, and division of labor are essential for effective collaboration and can be enhanced through digital technologies (tools) and support from a community, for example, educators. Finally, results showed that there is evidence that described implementations contribute to learning. However, this evidence needs to be interpreted with care, due to methodological issues in some included articles.
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Contribution: This article presents a comprehensive overview of characteristics of educational designs of collaborative engineering design activities found in literature and how these characteristics mediate students' collaboration. Background: Engineers have to solve complex problems that require collaboration. In education, various collaborative engineering design activities have been implemented to prepare students for these professional practices. According to cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), educational activities can be described in terms of interrelated elements, i.e., subject, object, tools, rules, division of labor, and community, that influence learning outcomes. A key issue is how these elements mediate students' collaborative efforts and how they contribute to learning. Research Questions: 1) How is collaborative learning implemented in engineering design education? 2) How do the elements of CHAT and their interrelations mediate collaborative learning? and 3) What is the evidence that the implementation of collaborative learning contributed to the achievement of desired learning outcomes? Methodology: A systematic literature review following preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analyses protocols guidelines was conducted, including 111 articles published between 2011 and 2021. CHAT was used as analytical framework. Findings: Collaborative learning was implemented in engineering design activities to develop technical as well as nontechnical skills. For the CHAT elements, it was found that establishing a common object, rules for collaboration, and division of labor are essential for effective collaboration and can be enhanced through digital technologies (tools) and support from a community, for example, educators. Finally, results showed that there is evidence that described implementations contribute to learning. However, this evidence needs to be interpreted with care, due to methodological issues in some included articles.
Embodied learning technologies have shown efficacy in laboratories with ideal supportive conditions, but their effectiveness in classroom with “real-world” constraints is yet understudied. Inspired by the innovation implementation framework, we compare the classroom-situated engagements of two student pairs and their teachers with the action-based embodied design for proportions with earlier laboratory and classroom study findings and conjecture on influential factors. Much of these classroom students’ sensorimotor learning resembled laboratory findings, but they had more opportunities to be overtly engaged with their hands and self-directed in including artifacts, likely influenced by (unintended) technological changes and setting-specific environmental affordances. Their teachers’ engagements resembled laboratory findings to some extent, but showed less perceptiveness to students’ qualitative multimodal expressions and more directedness in introducing new quantitative forms of
engagements, likely influenced by setting-specific fragmented access and novelty of the embodied pedagogy. We discuss the importance of focusing on teachers and conducting semi-natural efficacy research. ...
engagements, likely influenced by setting-specific fragmented access and novelty of the embodied pedagogy. We discuss the importance of focusing on teachers and conducting semi-natural efficacy research. ...
Embodied learning technologies have shown efficacy in laboratories with ideal supportive conditions, but their effectiveness in classroom with “real-world” constraints is yet understudied. Inspired by the innovation implementation framework, we compare the classroom-situated engagements of two student pairs and their teachers with the action-based embodied design for proportions with earlier laboratory and classroom study findings and conjecture on influential factors. Much of these classroom students’ sensorimotor learning resembled laboratory findings, but they had more opportunities to be overtly engaged with their hands and self-directed in including artifacts, likely influenced by (unintended) technological changes and setting-specific environmental affordances. Their teachers’ engagements resembled laboratory findings to some extent, but showed less perceptiveness to students’ qualitative multimodal expressions and more directedness in introducing new quantitative forms of
engagements, likely influenced by setting-specific fragmented access and novelty of the embodied pedagogy. We discuss the importance of focusing on teachers and conducting semi-natural efficacy research.
engagements, likely influenced by setting-specific fragmented access and novelty of the embodied pedagogy. We discuss the importance of focusing on teachers and conducting semi-natural efficacy research.
We can teach more than we can tell
Combining Deliberate Practice, Embodied Cognition, and Multimodal Learning
Acquisition and internalisation of many fundamental skills rely on repeated authentic practice and teachers providing support during practice. Despite this well accepted norms in skills acquisition, much of our assumptions about learning skills, mostly from a cognitive perspective, remain nebulous. Besides splitting hairs to classify skills acquisition into a paradigm, much of findings of related research from educational science and psychology have struggled to transfer into the domain of skills acquisition. Instead, in this paper, we propose to shift our view of skills acquisition from a cognitive approach to an embodied one with the help of multimodal technologies and provide a use-case which combines deliberate practice framework, embodied cognition principles, and multimodal learning.
...
Acquisition and internalisation of many fundamental skills rely on repeated authentic practice and teachers providing support during practice. Despite this well accepted norms in skills acquisition, much of our assumptions about learning skills, mostly from a cognitive perspective, remain nebulous. Besides splitting hairs to classify skills acquisition into a paradigm, much of findings of related research from educational science and psychology have struggled to transfer into the domain of skills acquisition. Instead, in this paper, we propose to shift our view of skills acquisition from a cognitive approach to an embodied one with the help of multimodal technologies and provide a use-case which combines deliberate practice framework, embodied cognition principles, and multimodal learning.
This workshop is part of the ERASMUS+ project: RAPIDE: on Relevant Assessment and pedagogies for Inclusive Digital Education (https://rapide-project.eu) and is open to anyone who is interested in implementing or improving peer assessment in their courses. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to make an informed decision on a suitable form of Peer Assessment for their courses. Over the past few years, many of us have faced operating in a frequently changing teaching environment which has made evaluating and assessing students’ learning outcomes and more importantly giving students feedback on their learning much more complicated. One pedagogical tool that has been increasingly used is that of peer assessments where students give each other feedback and assess each other’s work. In this workshop, participants will be introduced to many different types of peer assessment that can be used in engineering education, such as peer reviewing (each other’s work), peer grading(continuous feedback on mastery), and peer evaluation (group work) whether face-to-face, hybrid or in a fully online environment and how to do so in an inclusive way thus maintaining the important safe place that education should be. Participants will then in small groups discuss what types of peer evaluations they use or want to use in their courses and brainstorm on ideas for implementation in their own specific case or for one of the general cases that the facilitators will have available. At the end of the workshop participants will present their main findings back to the whole group so that they may also learn from each other. We aim for participants to leave feeling inspired at the end of the workshop to implement or improve peer assessment in their own courses. The aggregated main findings and ideas contrived in the workshop on how to implement peer assessment will also be shared with a wider audience through the conference proceedings and the RAPIDE project website.
...
This workshop is part of the ERASMUS+ project: RAPIDE: on Relevant Assessment and pedagogies for Inclusive Digital Education (https://rapide-project.eu) and is open to anyone who is interested in implementing or improving peer assessment in their courses. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to make an informed decision on a suitable form of Peer Assessment for their courses. Over the past few years, many of us have faced operating in a frequently changing teaching environment which has made evaluating and assessing students’ learning outcomes and more importantly giving students feedback on their learning much more complicated. One pedagogical tool that has been increasingly used is that of peer assessments where students give each other feedback and assess each other’s work. In this workshop, participants will be introduced to many different types of peer assessment that can be used in engineering education, such as peer reviewing (each other’s work), peer grading(continuous feedback on mastery), and peer evaluation (group work) whether face-to-face, hybrid or in a fully online environment and how to do so in an inclusive way thus maintaining the important safe place that education should be. Participants will then in small groups discuss what types of peer evaluations they use or want to use in their courses and brainstorm on ideas for implementation in their own specific case or for one of the general cases that the facilitators will have available. At the end of the workshop participants will present their main findings back to the whole group so that they may also learn from each other. We aim for participants to leave feeling inspired at the end of the workshop to implement or improve peer assessment in their own courses. The aggregated main findings and ideas contrived in the workshop on how to implement peer assessment will also be shared with a wider audience through the conference proceedings and the RAPIDE project website.
To adequately prepare engineering students for their professional career, educational institutions offer projects in which students collaboratively solve engineering design problems. It is known from research these projects can lead to a variety of learning outcomes and student experiences. However, studies that provide insights in the influence of different features of an educational design are rare. In the current study we use Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as analytical framework to understand how different elements of an educational design affect students’ experience. Additionally, we use the notion of contradictions to identify opportunities for structural course improvement. Focus groups were conducted with 12 Master students in Aerospace Engineering, that participated in a collaborative engineering design course. During the course, students applied Systems Engineering (SE) and Concurrent Engineering (CE) and worked in the Collaborative Design Laboratory (CDL), which is a state-of-the-art facility that holds a variety of industry relevant tools. It was found that students valued the guidance of their coach and experts, co-located collaboration and the freedom to structure their own process. However, they perceived challenges with regard to adoption of tools in the CDL, sharing their progress with their supervisor, coordination of collaborative efforts and scheduling issues. An analysis using CHAT revealed what contradictions caused these challenges. Finally, recommendations are given on how course structure can be structurally improved.
...
To adequately prepare engineering students for their professional career, educational institutions offer projects in which students collaboratively solve engineering design problems. It is known from research these projects can lead to a variety of learning outcomes and student experiences. However, studies that provide insights in the influence of different features of an educational design are rare. In the current study we use Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as analytical framework to understand how different elements of an educational design affect students’ experience. Additionally, we use the notion of contradictions to identify opportunities for structural course improvement. Focus groups were conducted with 12 Master students in Aerospace Engineering, that participated in a collaborative engineering design course. During the course, students applied Systems Engineering (SE) and Concurrent Engineering (CE) and worked in the Collaborative Design Laboratory (CDL), which is a state-of-the-art facility that holds a variety of industry relevant tools. It was found that students valued the guidance of their coach and experts, co-located collaboration and the freedom to structure their own process. However, they perceived challenges with regard to adoption of tools in the CDL, sharing their progress with their supervisor, coordination of collaborative efforts and scheduling issues. An analysis using CHAT revealed what contradictions caused these challenges. Finally, recommendations are given on how course structure can be structurally improved.
Educational technologies develop quickly. Which functions of face-to-face education can be substituted by technology for distance learning? One of the risks of online education is the lack of embodied interactions. We investigate what embodied interactive technologies might offer for teaching trigonometry when learning at a distance. In a multiple case study, we analyze the potential of embodied action-based design for fostering conceptual understanding of a sine graph. It appears that independent learning with tablet-based activities leads to acquiring new sensory-motor coordinations. Some students include these new embodied experiences into mathematical discourse and trigonometry problem solving themselves, while others still need some support from a teacher. However, distantly acquired embodied experiences can be easily recalled in a few days after learning and serve well as a substrate for further conceptualization and problem-solving. The results speak for a clear contribution that embodied design might provide for grounding conceptual understanding in distance learning. However, we expect embodied design to be particularly helpful in a blended learning format.
...
Educational technologies develop quickly. Which functions of face-to-face education can be substituted by technology for distance learning? One of the risks of online education is the lack of embodied interactions. We investigate what embodied interactive technologies might offer for teaching trigonometry when learning at a distance. In a multiple case study, we analyze the potential of embodied action-based design for fostering conceptual understanding of a sine graph. It appears that independent learning with tablet-based activities leads to acquiring new sensory-motor coordinations. Some students include these new embodied experiences into mathematical discourse and trigonometry problem solving themselves, while others still need some support from a teacher. However, distantly acquired embodied experiences can be easily recalled in a few days after learning and serve well as a substrate for further conceptualization and problem-solving. The results speak for a clear contribution that embodied design might provide for grounding conceptual understanding in distance learning. However, we expect embodied design to be particularly helpful in a blended learning format.
The development of digital technologies enables visualizations of many scientific relations. In this paper, we question the efficiency of the visualizing tools from a theoretical perspective that combines cultural-historical and radical embodied approaches. Dynamic visualizations expose the target relations in a ready-made form, while embodied action-based design provides students with an opportunity to reinvent the target relations in their sensory-motor coordinations. In a multiple-case study, we compare these design genres for learning trigonometric relations. While dynamic visualizations were more efficient in simple tasks, embodied action-based design enhanced students' reasoning in a far transfer task.
...
The development of digital technologies enables visualizations of many scientific relations. In this paper, we question the efficiency of the visualizing tools from a theoretical perspective that combines cultural-historical and radical embodied approaches. Dynamic visualizations expose the target relations in a ready-made form, while embodied action-based design provides students with an opportunity to reinvent the target relations in their sensory-motor coordinations. In a multiple-case study, we compare these design genres for learning trigonometric relations. While dynamic visualizations were more efficient in simple tasks, embodied action-based design enhanced students' reasoning in a far transfer task.
In this paper, we combine dialogic and embodied theories of learning to create a unified analytic lens. Embodied cognition is a theoretical approach operating under the premise that thinking and communication are multimodal activities. Under this premise, dialogue between learners needs to be conceptualized using a multimodal lens. We identify multimodal voices as speech and movement bundles situated within a learning context and describe a phenomenon that we call Multimodal Dialogue – multimodal interaction between different multimodal voices. To demonstrate this phenomenon, we analyze a learning sequence by two third-grade students who participated in a mathematics lesson aimed to foster embodied learning of proportion. Our analysis zooms in on the phenomenon of a multimodal voice as a speech-and-movement bundle situated within a learning context. We further show how multimodal dialogic gaps – differences between multimodal voices within and between modalities – drive communication and eventual changes in voices.
...
In this paper, we combine dialogic and embodied theories of learning to create a unified analytic lens. Embodied cognition is a theoretical approach operating under the premise that thinking and communication are multimodal activities. Under this premise, dialogue between learners needs to be conceptualized using a multimodal lens. We identify multimodal voices as speech and movement bundles situated within a learning context and describe a phenomenon that we call Multimodal Dialogue – multimodal interaction between different multimodal voices. To demonstrate this phenomenon, we analyze a learning sequence by two third-grade students who participated in a mathematics lesson aimed to foster embodied learning of proportion. Our analysis zooms in on the phenomenon of a multimodal voice as a speech-and-movement bundle situated within a learning context. We further show how multimodal dialogic gaps – differences between multimodal voices within and between modalities – drive communication and eventual changes in voices.
Conference paper
(2020)
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Lu Ou, Alejandro Andrade, G. van Helden, Rosa Alberto, Arthur Bakker
Embodied learning and the design of embodied learning platforms have gained popularity in recent years due to the increasing availability of sensing technologies. In our study, we made use of the Mathematical Imagery Trainer for Proportion (MIT-P) that uses a touchscreen tablet to help students explore the concept of mathematical proportion. The use of sensing technologies provides an unprecedented amount of high-frequency data on students' behaviors. We investigated a statistical model called mixture Regime-Switching Hidden Logistic Transition Process (mixRHLP) and fit it to the students' hand motion data. Simultaneously, the model finds characteristic regimes and assigns students to clusters of regime transitions. To understand the nature of these regimes and clusters, we explore some properties in students' and tutor's verbalization associated with these different phases.
...
Embodied learning and the design of embodied learning platforms have gained popularity in recent years due to the increasing availability of sensing technologies. In our study, we made use of the Mathematical Imagery Trainer for Proportion (MIT-P) that uses a touchscreen tablet to help students explore the concept of mathematical proportion. The use of sensing technologies provides an unprecedented amount of high-frequency data on students' behaviors. We investigated a statistical model called mixture Regime-Switching Hidden Logistic Transition Process (mixRHLP) and fit it to the students' hand motion data. Simultaneously, the model finds characteristic regimes and assigns students to clusters of regime transitions. To understand the nature of these regimes and clusters, we explore some properties in students' and tutor's verbalization associated with these different phases.