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求达人翻译3.。。 INTERPRETING THE STUDENTS’ RESPONSES The students clearly experience learning at a different level compared to what has been the case during their first three years. It is also very clear that the research project is challenging and even stressful. It is a positive sign that students become critical to the way that they have been taught once they start reflecting about their learning process. The use of the Project Management ’safety net’ is thus of paramount importance. DISCUSSION A measure of success has already been achieved in providing the support and structure required to assist the students through the role reversal process. While the focus has been on how the project management approach can assist with overcoming research-learning obstacles, it is important to note that the reverse is also true. What the solution entails is providing a practical application of project management techniques, a principle which is particularly relevant for the practising engineering professional. The research project provides a non-trivial application of project management, and includes the challenging elements of time management, within the context of significant uncertainties and imponderables. The research project does not constitute simulation as from the students’ own experience, it is a real problem for which they exercise ownership. Turning to more fundamental didactical issues, what has been realised is a successful transition from the pedagogical to the andragogical to life-long learning. Compelling students to break away from the typical undergraduate regime, seizing the initiative, and taking responsibility for their own learning, is typical of the pedagogical / andragogical divide. The ownership mentioned in the previous paragraph, is also characteristic of the andragogical milieu. Lastly, providing students with the requisite knowledge skills to complete a significant research project, serves as a particularly good preparation for lifelong learning, and for the survival of individuals in the knowledge society. It needs to made clear that it is believed that this is indeed a research project and not like the typical final year projects as described by Chua (2001), because the nature of the activities that the student is expected to engage in, in this exercise, is similar to that required of doctoral and master’s level research students. At 4th year level the research process is introduced, and the successful candidates should have demonstrated that they are familiar with the process, and able to perform at an entry level. At master’s level a successful candidate would need to demonstrate mastery of the process, and at doctoral level, candidates need to demonstrate their ability to prosecute the process independently, and make a significant contribution to the relevant body of knowledge. The steps of the research process as outlined above are: . Identify and define a particular problem, and propose objectives which lead to its solution; . Identify and engage with the relevant literature; . Analyse the problem with respect to the literature; . Investigate alternatives and synthesise a solution; . Evaluate the proposed solution, and . Document the process and outputs thereof appropriately in a treatise. Part of any educational offering is an adequate preparation for the next level. The BTech level research process should contain elements which prepare the student for masters’ level studies. From experience Slatter (2005) this is indeed the case, for a realistic preparation for masters’ studies does occur – as gauged from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology Flow Process Research Centre(FPRC) experience. At the FPRC an interdisciplinary approach is adopted, which entails students from all the engineering disciplines participating. Students who complete the BTech integrated research project in Civil Engineering are adequately prepared for entry into masters’ level studies. While the methodology reported on is effective, implementing it requires time, dedication and passion – good traditional teaching values and the e-tools for which there are no substitutes. However, it is not attractive to those that operate in the idealised and optimised environment where the lecture method is still preferred. Pearce (2005) provides clear evidence – a different mode of is experienced, and higher order learning occurs.
求达人翻译2。。 LITERATURE Today’s students will function professionally in what has been described as the ’knowledge society’, and Jarvis (2001;2003) has analysed the changes which lead to, and characterise, this new age. Lifelong learning is now a prerequisite for the economic survival of society. The notion that education and training occur during adolescence and are solely a preparation for, and separate from, life and work, has been overturned within less than one generation. There is a growing focus on qualities such as learning to learn, self-management and self-confidence, negotiation and critical thinking. The skills of collecting and interpreting information and using knowledge in all its forms are a priority in a society that is, for the first time in human history, information rich. This has profound implications for higher education. Furthermore, Drucker (1993), states that the kind of knowledge concerned is not just any knowledge. It is knowledge that can be applied for results – knowledge that can be applied systematically and purposefully to define what new knowledge is needed, and to accomplish systematic innovation. It is important to note that the acquisition of these particular skills is exactly the basis for formulating the Batchelor of Technology (BTech) research project in Civil Engineering at the CPUT, and provides, in general, the raison d’être for research as the teaching strategy of choice for higher degrees (Slatter,1998; 1999a; Slatter et al., 1995a; 1995b; Slatter et al., 1997a; Slatter and Peterson 1997b).
求达人翻译 ABSTRACT: Civil engineering students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology generally find the final year research project very daunting. In most cases it is the first time that they are not ’learning’ passively by sitting in lectures, receiving notes and worked out examples, memorising the material and then writing an examination to demonstrate their ’competency’. Suddenly learning comes by doing, and they are faced with the challenge of executing a significant research project. For students who do not have good management skills, this becomes a very difficult task. To address this problem, staff have, over the past decade, integrated project management with the research project to the extent that it has now become one subject with two final year credits. This means that students learn how to use project management skills to manage the research project, which runs over one year. Project management skills integrated with a rigid structure, complemented by lecturer support in a web-based e-learning environment, has been developed to assist students in completing the research project. This has proved to be very successful and students have commented that without the newly acquired project management skills, they would not have been able to complete the projects on time. The results indicate that the integration of project management skills can relieve the role reversal entrapment problem. However, interventions to prepare the students more adequately must be considered over the first three years of study. .The paper presents the historical background to the problem, an overview of how the revised methodology is being implemented, and it indicates how e-learning is used to manage the course. KEYWORDS: final year research project, e-learning, project management.
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