C21U is hosting The Practitioners Leading Edge Talk Series to highlight some of the most innovative thinkers in the Higher Education space. This talk is given by Professor Amy Pritchett from Aerospace Engineering on “Problem-based learning in a content-intensive large engineering class”. Register online here.

 Abstract

This semester, we've experimented with shifting AE3515 "System Dynamics and Automatic Control" to a problem-based learning format.  Students were grouped randomly into 10 teams of 12-13 and assigned 4 large problems.  "Just-in-time" instruction is used to lecture on topics that students requested and could cogently justify relative to the problem, roughly 1 hour per week.  The remaining 3 hours per week are group-meeting times, facilitated by graduate students. 

 This talk will discuss both the logistical details faced in using such a pedagogy (e.g. the need for multiple facilitators for 4 hours per week versus the assignment of a single 20 hour-per-week TA to the course) and the learning experience of the students.  Students in the midst of the course will join in the presentation.