Senior Design

Engineering 4610

David Bowen
CSU East Bay

Today
Two minute check in up-dates
Next week presentations
Company

Background, Mission Statement

Team Mission Statement (and relate to company
mission statement)
Incorporate Workshop/Brainstorm results
Plan for rest of project including goals and concerns
Questions for classmates

Teams & Learning

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Activity -Work Group / Teams

Why the emphasis on teams?
List

all the benefits you can think of for

working in teams instead of individually

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Activity -Work Group Experiences

What has been your best team
experience and why?
Think

about the best team experience you

have had. Write down what it was and
what made it the best.

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Activity -Work Group Experiences

What has been your worst team
experience and why?
Think

about the worst team experience you

have had. Write down what it was and
what made it the worst.

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Observation #1
Working in a team is necessary
because the combination of
project

interdependencies,
time constraints and
skill requirements

make it undesirable or infeasible to

have the work performed in an
individual-based environment, and;
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Practitioners see specific communication

skills as most critical for working in teams
The study determined that. In the ten highest ranking
non-technical skills required of engineers working in a
team environment or project, survey respondents included
4 separate communication skills:

communicate verbally,
listen,
communicate in writing and
express ideas professionally.

Other skills ranked in the top ten include the ability to

get along with others,

manage time,
collaborate,
coordinate,
interact with people with non-technical backgrounds, and
triage (know what is important and what is not)
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Though we asked for skills, many

responded with traits or attitudes
The highest ranking traits/attitudes were being
dependable,
responsible,
trustworthiness, and
appreciating perspectives and accepting of ideas of
others.

Traits of integrity, professionalism, adaptability,

accountability, self motivation and respect were
also high on the list of valued traits and attitudes.
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Logic of Teams
We are asking team members, each with
skills and abilities insufficient to complete the
task (From Observation #1), to come together
and somehow successfully meet the task
requirements.
In essence, we require teams to learn from as
well as educate each other in order to create
a group that together can accomplish the feat
that the individuals could not.
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Gestalt (Synergy)
The successful team is a manifestation
of the GESTALT Principle: a
configuration of physical, biological,
psychological, or symbolic elements so
unified as a whole that its properties
cannot be derived from a simple
summation of its parts.
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Observation #2
Working in a team environment creates
a complex, interdependent, learnerteacher experience for team members,
as they determine how to organize,
develop and integrate their knowledge,
abilities and efforts to accomplish the
task.
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Learning Environments
Good learning environments are
balanced in terms of the degree to
which they are learner-centered,
knowledge-centered, assessmentcentered and community-centered

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Learner-Centered
Environments
Learner-centered environments

pay careful attention to the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs

that learners bring to the educational setting
attempt to build on the strengths, interests, and needs of the
learners.

Therefore in order to advance learning, it is important to

determine the knowledge and perspectives of the learner
Only then can material that is of the appropriate level and
that resonates with the learners interests and orientations
be specified.
By the same reasoning, learner-centered instruction must
include a sensitivity to the cultural practices of learners
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Learner-Centered Environments
The learner-centered view provides support for
educational practices such as determining
individual personality types and learning styles
as desirable features of a learning environment.
Viewing teams as learner-teacher communities
compels team members to function as teachers
as well as learners
Better understanding the personality types and
learning styles of teammates provides more
information for being a better teacher

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Activity
Take the On-line Test, submit your results to
Prof. Bowen via Blackboard
Can

use print screen or other method, but

check to make sure it is paginated correctly

Print or save electronic copy for yourself and

bring back to class
Class will start-up again in 25 minutes (Test
& break)
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
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Felder Learning Style Site

http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

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Understanding Your Learning

Style II
Personal Knowledge
Intermediate Level

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Acknowledgment of Support
The material is based upon work supported by the
National Science Foundation under grant No. DUE0089079: Implementing the BESTEAMS model of
team development across the curriculum.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this material are
those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the National Science Foundation.
Additional support was provided by the A. James Clark
School of Engineering, the Mechanical Engineering
department at the University of Maryland, College
Park, and Morgan State University, the United States
Naval Academy, and Howard University.
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Warm-Up
Reflect on a time when you had a lot of
trouble learning a particular subject or
topic.
What made it so difficult for you?
What steps did you take to learn the
material?
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Knowing Yourself: Learning Styles

in Engineering
What is a learning style?
Characteristic

ways of receiving and

processing information in order to learn.
Examples include:
Preferring

to learn by doing versus by

listening or reading
Preferring to learn by first seeing the big
picture or by going step by step

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Models of Learning Styles

The Kolb Learning Styles Inventory
(LSI) is widely used to describe:
Preferences

for perceiving as a continuum

from reflective observation to active
experimentation
Preferences for judging information as
abstract conceptualization to concrete
experience
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Review of Kolb
Characteristic ways of perceiving and judging
knowledge:
Assimilators -high reflective observation (RO)
and abstract conceptualization (AC)
Divergers - high concrete experience (CE) and
reflective observation (RO)
Accommodators - high active experimentation
(AE) and concrete experience (CE)
Convergers - high active experimentation (AE)
and abstract conceptualization (AC)

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Review of Kolb Learning

Styles
What is a Learning Style?
Key dimensions

Preference for processing or sensing the information

Preference for using or judging the information

Combining dimensions results in 4 types

Divergers (high CE and RO)

Assimilators (high RO and AC)
Convergers (high AC and AE)
Accommodators (high AE and CE)

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Concrete
Experience
Feeling

Kolb's
learnin
g styles
Accommodating
(feel and do)
CE/AE

Active
Experimentatio
n Doing

Perce
ption
Continuum
Processing
how
Continuum

how we

Converging
(think and do)
AC/AE

Diverging
(feel and watch)
CE/RO

we
do things
think
about
things

Reflective
Observation
Watching

Assimilating
(think and watch)
AC/RO

Abstract
Conceptualisatio
n Thinking
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Index of Learning Styles (ILS)

Created by Dr. Richard Felder, a chemical
engineer and leading engineering education
professor at North Carolina State University
Uses concepts from the Kolb LSI, the MyersBriggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and other
learning theories
The ILS is designed to be particularly relevant
to engineering education
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Learning Style Preference Notes

Learning Styles are lenses for understanding
your own and others preferences for learning
and contributing to teams
They are never right or wrong
Individuals have preferences or strengths, but
everyone can (and probably should) use all
styles at some point in their learning or work
in teams
Individuals have strength of preferences:
some may be strong, others may be weak
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Key Dimensions of ILS Learning

Preferences
Active versus Reflective preference
(similar to Kolb LSI)
Sensing versus Intuitive preference
(similar to the MBTI)
Visual versus Verbal preference
Sequential versus Global preference
Inductive versus Deductive preference
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Your own ILS Profile

Look at your own profile:
Are

you strong in some areas?

Weak in others?
Balanced throughout?

How can you use your learning style

preferences and strengths to maximize
your learning?
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Active vs. Reflective

Preference
Active preference: prefers to learn by
trying new things out, improving
experiments, working with others
Reflective preference: prefers to learn
by thinking things through, working
alone
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Maximizing Your Learning

Active Learners
Study in groups and take turns explaining topics to
each other
Anticipate what will be asked on tests and
brainstorm the answers

Try and study alone and then report or discuss w/

others; in teams, allow time for reflection, write
down your ideas, then speak up
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Maximizing Your Learning

Reflective Learners
Summarize material you are studying
Make a list of key points
Think of possible test questions based on the
material
Think of applications of the material to things you
are interested in

Discuss your work w/ a fellow student or be a tutor

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Sensing vs. Intuitive

Sensing preference: prefers to focus
on facts, procedures, preferring the
practical and concrete
Intuitive preference: prefers to focus on
innovation, concepts, preferring the
theoretical and hypothetical
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Exercise: Sensing/Intuitive
Learners
Imagine you are a part of an engineering
society effort to reach out to talented high
school students in the community and teach
them about the field of engineering.
Design an experience for 9th graders so that
they can understand the concept
conservation of energy.
Divide into S/I groups and design a plan.
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Maximizing Your Learning

Sensing Learners
Ask instructors for specific examples
Ask for how the material can be applied in
engineering practice
Ask yourself what if questions. For example, what
if I changed this parameter? What if, I used this
concept in a different context?

Make friends with symbols by creating a symbol

dictionary and learn them like a foreign language
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Maximizing Your Learning

Intuitive Learners:
Avoid careless mistakes: read the entire question or
assignment before you take action
Check your solutions: make sure the question you
answered was the one that was asked
Link the specifics of the course or task to the big picture:
Why is your instructor presenting this material? How is it
important now, to practicing engineers, to research
scientists?

Make one note card per week with specific formula,

equations, etc. then memorize it.
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Visual vs. Verbal

Visual preference: prefers to
learn by visual representations,
e.g., flow charts, diagrams,
pictures
Verbal preference: prefers to
learn by reading or listening
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Maximizing Your Learning

Visual Learners:
Find or create visualizations of the concepts you are
learning (flow charts, schematics, photographs,
diagrams)
Plan a concept map: list key points/concepts and link w/
arrows showing the relationships between them
Color code your notes w/ highlighters so that related
concepts are in the same color

Explain your concept map to a classmate in order to

enhance your understanding

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Maximizing Your Learning

Verbal Learners:
Write summaries of the class material in your own
words
Work in groups where you can take turns explaining
concepts and problem solutions to one another

Develop a concept map that represents the material

presented in class; add symbols as the class
continues

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Sequential vs. Global

Sequential preference: prefers to learn
in small increments, linear, orderly
progression
Global preference: prefers to learn
holistically, large leaps of
understanding, systems thinking
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Maximizing Your Learning

Sequential Learners:
Ask your instructor to fill in any steps you find
missing (How did you get from here to there?)
Try and outline your notes or the material in logical
order

Relate the new material to other concepts and

information you know. Ask: Where else would this
apply?
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Maximizing Your Learning

Global Learners:
Get the big picture by skimming the material (read the
titles, then subtitles, then graphs, section headings,
finally, the first sentence in each paragraph).
Link the new material to concepts you already know
(Ask: Why is this important? Who uses this
information? How is it applied?)

Create a concept map identifying links between

individual concepts, explain the relationships to a class
or team mate.
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Inductive vs. Deductive

Inductive preference: prefers to learn
from specifics and generalize to the big
picture or concept
Deductive preference: prefers to learn
from the general/theory/concept and
then move to specifics or application
NOTE: This dimension is not assessed
in the Felder Index
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Exercise: YOUR Learning Style

Remember when you reflected on a
time when you had a lot of trouble
learning a particular subject...
What if you had known your ILS?
How might that have made a difference
in how you approached learning the
material?
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Take Home Points

Learning preferences are not right or wrong
Knowing your own preferences can help you
understand your own strengths in terms of
learning and related tasks such as working on
teams
Differences in terms of how people look at the
world, prefer to work and interact, are all
positives when it comes to teamwork and
accomplishing complex projects
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Learning Styles in Teams: Part II

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Learning in a Mixed Learning

Style Group/Team: Maximizing
EVERYONEs Learning

In an ideal class, everyones learning style is

appreciated and accommodated.

Considering your own learning preferences,

ask: Does what the instructor is doing now
match my learning style? If not, what can you
do to make the material more meaningful?
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Helping Everyone Learn in a

Team Context
In order to help everyone contribute to the
team, try the following:
Start with real world examples and problems
that show why the theoretical/technical
material will be useful or important (helps
sensing & global learners)

Balance concrete information with conceptual

information: do hands-on experiments or
demonstrations to illustrate Laws and principles
(helps sensing & intuitive learners)
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Learning in Teams, cont.

Draw and Talk: use schematics, computer
graphics, plots, vector diagrams, etc. to support
verbal explanations provided in lectures or
readings (helps both visual and verbal learners)
Illustrate using BOTH numeric and algebraic
examples (helps both sensors and intuitives)
Use physical analogies/demonstrations to make
the abstract more real (e.g. 100 microns is
about the thickness of a sheet of paper)

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Learning in Teams, cont.

Work in small groups or sub-teams to solve
problems inductively (starting with empirical data
work out solutions and then generalize to
principles and laws)
Allow time to think and ask questions: What is the
most confusing point? write it down and hand in
or discuss with neighbor (helps reflective learners)
Ask the So what?: where can the information
being learned be applied? Brainstorm all possible
applications (helps global learners)

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Learning Styles in Team: Stuck?

When your team is at an impasse, ask each
member:
What is the learning style preference of each member of
your team?
How do you define the problem/issue from your
perspective?
How would you solve a problem such as this?
What information is missing that would help solve the
problem?
If not all learning styles are represented on your team,
ask What would a global learner want to know? How
would they approach this?

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Exercise: Active/Reflective Learners

Active and Reflective Preference Learners
split into groups:

What is your favorite aspect of working on a team

project and why?

Think of engineering teams you have worked on

before.
Project design
Team work
Testing and experimentation
Report writing and presentation

Is there a connection between your preferences in

teams and your preferred learning style?
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Interpersonal Effectiveness:
Essential to Successful Teams

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Remaining Time
Meet in your project groups to
Compare

learning styles, note similarities/

differences
Work on presentations
Plan for completing presentations
Plan for overall project completion
(task/phases, milestones, approximate times)
Start discussing/organizing for interim report
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