Active learning to improve creativity of engineering students

J. L. Contreras
1


1
Departamento de InIormatica, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Casilla 110-V, Valparaiso,
Chile, (jose.contrerasusm.cl)



Abstract
Forming creative and innovative engineers is a generalized promise in higher education institutions. It is
also a recognized need in diverse social, educative and proIessional contexts, which is expressed in
proIessional proIiles, educative models and accreditation criteria. Nevertheless recent surveys show that
these and other important qualities oI proIessionals are not developed at satisIactory levels by student
during their careers. This paper presents an active learning educative experience intended to enhance
creative and innovative capabilities oI engineering students. Without having previous required knowledge
neither experience in working together, students put in motion their individual and collective resources to
produce innovative solutions to an apparently unsolvable challenge. While progressing in their projects
and guided under a coaching style by their proIessors, students developed knowledge, abilities and
attitudes to creatively solve unexpected and sometimes complex problems. Results show that active
learning may improve creativity and other important proIessional qualities oI Iuture engineers.


: active learning, engineering education, creativity, new learning methods.


1. INTRODUCTION

Forming creative and innovative engineers is a recognized need in diverse contexts oI the social, educational and
proIessional worlds, which is expressed among others in proIessional proIiles, educative models and
accreditation criteria. These last sometimes explicitly state that institutions must demonstrate that with their
career programs students develop creativity and innovation skills. On the other hand, important multinational
projects aimed at to reIorm higher education systems highlight creativity among the desired proIessional skills
|1|. These skills are also included in engineering educational models and in the educative oIIers oI outstanding
institutions and universities. Nevertheless, recent surveys show that students don`t reach satisIactory levels oI
creativity and innovation during their studies |1|.
This paper presents an active learning educative experience |2| aimed at to enhance creativity and innovation oI
Iirst year students at the Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria (UTFSM). An apparently unattainable, little
structured and with no obvious known solutions challenge, was given to students. The implicit assumption was
that students would develop their creativity and other important engineering skills by Iacing and solving
unexpected and sometimes complex situations, in developing their projects. Results conIirm this assumption and
also conIirm that 'the creative process doesn`t depend on degrees or age.


2. DEVELOPMENT

Students oI the Introduction to Engineering course, during the Iirst semester oI their careers at the UTFSM, were
asked to create a 'virtual hand as the course project. They had to work in teams oI 4 to 6 members, to develop
an arteIact that would allow a computer to react according to the movement oI the hand and/or the Iingers (i.e.
writing, drawing or playing music with the computer, by moving the Iingers in the air, etc.). The teacher guided
the teams and occasionally two assistant students helped some groups in advanced computing matters. Below
comes the explanation oI the main stages oI the experience and its most relevant aspects.


2.1 Stages of the experience
a) Choosing the project`s topic. The topic was chosen to produce creativity and innovation as the main learning
outcomes oI the experience. Some oI its Ieatures are:

It`s placed within the students` Iield oI interest
Students don`t know solutions neither have previous knowledge to develop one
The goal is presented with little deIinition, giving place to many ideas on possible solutions
It links computers with the physical world, introduces corporality and ludicity
It requires team work; a student alone could hardly solve the challenge
It requires developing diIIerent kinds oI knowledge and abilities, and the exploration oI uncommon ideas

b) Induction. To motivate students to start their projects the teacher presented videos and photos oI devices
related to the topic. He also analyzed hand and Iingers movements with the students. The main actions were:

To show related inIormation and/or solutions Iound in the web
To make basic analysis and modelling oI the problem (i.e., movements oI Iingers)
To start developing a personal solution sharing his ideas and advances with the students

c) Starting the action. It was clearly established that carrying out the project would be 'a required condition to
pass the course and that just a design wouldn`t be accepted. The virtual hand had to be built. Later, each group
got to shape and deIine their own ideas oI solution inIluenced by their interests, their capabilities and their
analysis oI the problem. Some groups arrived to ideas such as: 'a virtual guitar, 'a visual detector oI
movements, 'a hand-mouse, 'a virtual drawer, etc. The teacher`s key actions at this stage were:

To establish clearly that the product had to be built. A design wouldn`t be enough to pass the course
To show in class the progress oI the teacher`s solution
To mention and praise in public the teams that showed progresses
To set appointments with each team to discuss about their projects ideas

d) Follow up and support to the teams. The proIessor met with the teams Irequently, mainly to be inIormed about
the individual and group perIormance, to promote reIlexive thinking about their actions and decisions, and to
analyze the technical, operational and economical aspects oI their ideas. During the meetings students also
deIined new tasks and goals, received orientation, materials and inIormation, and Iixed the goals and date Ior the
Iollowing meeting. The 'coaching style and dialogue applied by the proIessor were Iundamental to achieve real
progresses at this stage. The proIessor`s key actions at this stage were:

To 'coach teams, helping students to discover and wake up their hidden potentials
To promote and praise student`s Iriendship, team work and honesty
To lead students to the achievement oI concrete results, praise in public team`s progresses
To keep a detailed tracking oI ideas, diIIiculties and progress oI each team and student
To ask students to keep all the evidences oI their work (videos, pictures, rough copies, etc.)

e) End oI the work. The students handed in a Iinal report and made public presentations oI their projects. On his
hand, the teacher evaluated the students` learning achievements through interviews, surveys and Iocus groups
meetings. The main actions at this stage were:

Student teams wrote Iinal reports, included the portIolio oI evidences and made selI and peer evaluation
Students presented their results to the entire class and to invited teachers
Teacher assessed student`s learning trough surveys, interviews and Iocus groups


2.2 Details of the meetings
The meetings had a great impact on students` involvement and perIormance on their projects. Meetings usually
went through 3 main stages: beginning/exploration, ideas analysis, and synthesis.

a) Beginning/exploration. The meetings started with inIormal conversations about general aspects related with
students` liIe, university happenings, etc. At a given moment, students had to explain about their absent partners.
When needed, the proIessor recalled the leader that one oI his/her main roles is to get all team members involved
with the project. The teacher also asked the students about their academic results on other courses, because the
work on the project shouldn`t aIIect negatively their grades. Then the students had to talk about the advances
since the last meetings, in relation with the previous meeting`s agreed actions and goals.

b) Analysis oI the ideas. At this stage the students` ideas and results were analyzed in order to get a clear
understanding on the students work, and to help them on state the next actions on their projects. The teacher paid
special attention to the analysis and discussions made by the students, helping them to become aware oI theirs
sayings and Iinding out what they really wanted to communicate each other. Sometimes the proIessor searched
inIormation in the web that could be helpIul to the team. Also he tried and analyzed the student`s prototypes,
discussing with them about technical, economic and/or ergonomic details, etc. The teacher also shared with the
students the advances oI his own solution and asked them Ior opinions and advices.

c) Synthesis. In this stage the conclusions oI the analysis were reached, the qualities oI the device to build were
reIined and the goals Ior the next meeting were Iixed. A copy oI the proIessor`s notes oI the meeting was given
to the students, including: next tasks, their responsible and their due dates, the date oI the next meeting and what
was expected Ior that meeting.


2.3 The teacher`s role
In active learning teachers generally take the role oI 'tutors |2|. In this experience, the teacher went Iarther
acting mainly as a 'coach who, on top oI guiding, orientating and motivating students, behaves sometimes as
part oI the team and takes their problems as his owns. Through conversations, comments and questions and,
good use oI language, the teacher got his students to discover and understand what allowed or hindered them to
reach their goals, and to activate non mobilized qualities or abilities, empowering them.


2.4 Conversation for comprehension and change
Conversations had an important role on the way how students developed better understandings oI their ideas,
viewpoints, team work, achievements, etc. In dialoguing with the students, the proIessor had an authentic interest
in getting a deep comprehension oI their ideas, actions, thoughts, Ieelings, etc. So, he oIten asked the students to
explain what they meant by their sentences, words and gestures. For example, when one student said: 'We were
told that., the teacher wanted more precision on: 'Who told you that?, 'Who was told?, 'What did you do
with that?, etc. This interest in understanding the students` thoughts and Ieelings helped them to become more
conscious on their statements, actions, learning processes and about their individual and collective capabilities.


3. RESULTS

Even iI the project was developed during a period oI exams and activities in other courses, all teams reached
their goals. One group especially stood out, due to the interest that its 'invention arose in the media.


3.1 Evaluation of the experience
The achieved learning oI students was evaluated through surveys, interviews and Iocus group. The results on
creativity are shown in Table 1. Other abilities developed at levels 'intermediate or 'high are listed in Table 2.

None Low Intermediate High Intermediate or High
Individual creativity 6 32 42 20 62
Collective creativity 2 18 34 46 80

TABLE 1. Individual and group creativity levels perceived by students


Abilities developed at levels intermediate or high Students,
Engineering career 72
Programming and Graphic libraries 65
Knowledge and comprehension
Design, ergonomics, materials 58
Autonomous learning 78
Team work 85
Communication with others 61
Organization and time planning 68
Skills
Analysis and evaluation oI options 76
Overcoming their limits 93
SelI conIidence with their own abilities 64
Attitudes

Responsibilities in the tasks 69
Friendship 77 Values
Trust in their mates 72

TABLE 2. Students` perception oI abilities developed at intermediate or high levels

Conclusions expressed by students in their Iinal reports revealed the Iollowing most Irequent statements:

a) Pride and satisIaction Ior the work done in the project
b) SelI and group conIidence to carry out any other challenge
c) Development oI deep Iriendship links among members oI the team
d) Achieved learning in:
teamwork
autonomous learning
creativity to Iind solutions
overcoming oI their own limits and improvement oI selI-esteem
planning and organization oI work
understanding oI their university liIe and oI engineering


4. CONCLUSIONS

Results show that the applied approach oI active learning helps students to develop creativity, innovation and
other important proIessional skills. For that, teachers must have social abilities to deal eIIectively in the world oI
human interactions, and to create stimulating contexts Ior exploration and experimentation allowing students to
develop their knowledge, abilities and proIessional attitudes. Although the applied educational approach is
similar to project based learning and problem based learning |3|, the main diIIerences are in that there is no
previously acquired knowledge to be applied or previously deIined knowledge that students should acquire. Also
it is diIIerent because oI the role oI the teacher acting as a coach.

For their part, Iirst year students did show that 'creativity doesn`t depend on degrees or age, as one oI them
stated. Without previous Iormal knowledge, needed to solve the proposed challenge, students, motivated to reach
their goals, can get it on their own. The teachers will have to consider that students don`t develop signiIicant
learning nor important proIessional abilities iI they only observe, listen and take notes Irom someone who
explains them something. On the other hand, the learning methods based on active learning could bring higher
education institutions nearer to the IulIilment oI their promises, especially in engineering careers.


References

|1| 'ReIlexiones y perspectivas de la Educacion Superior en America Latina, InIorme Final Proyecto Tuning
America Latina 2004-2007, Publicaciones de la Universidad de Deusto, Bilbao, 2007.
|2| C. Bonwell and J. Eison, 'Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom, ASHE-ERIC Higher
Education Report No. 1, 1991.
|3| E. De GraaII and A. Kolmos, 'Management oI Change, Implementation oI Problem-Based and Project-Based
Learning in Engineering, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, 2007.