The Characteristics of Engineering Graduate Students’ Learning at a Laboratory – A Situated Approach

• Main Authors: Mei-chun Liu, 劉美君
• Other Authors: 陳斐卿, 林信榕
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/54695482494032551760

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 學習與教學研究所 === 95 === The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of engineering graduate students’ learning from the point view of situated learning. In particular, it explores what they learn, how they learn, how the knowledge gets disseminated, and how could they evolve into qualified engineers. Ethnographical approach was applied to explore and analyze the daily practice of a particular lab in the School of Engineering. Three distinctive characteristics were uncovered. First, the learning resources of their graduate students are provided not only vertically from their professors, but also horizontally from their lab peers. Expertise facilitating learning resources may reside in not only more senior students but also junior students who might possess particular task experiences others don’t. Therefore, the learning resources in the lab are widely scattered among members of variant problem solving experiences. Second, hence, its first year graduate students, by no means, are situated in the peripheral of their community. Instead, they are given opportunities to take on vital roles. They are expected to volunteer for challenges, and, therefore, to hold possession of legitimate topics to interact with knowledge expertise and the chances to mature through their autonomy and self consciousness in project works. Third, a tier system, as if a ladder leading to heaven, was developed to bring up the professional knowledge, skills, and the metal process capabilities of problem solving and trial-error debugging in the students. The professors run the lab like a martial-art-studio where the students strive to succeed to the teaching practice of the teachers to pass along their hearty experiences of cognition and awareness to their descendants. In the way, they become aware of their maturity in both professional expertise as well as enthusiasm so that they deem the years long learning worthwhile.