2. TODAY’S
PRESENTATION
• A little bit about the module
• Active learning and rationale for using it
• Overview of activities
• Key take-aways
• Next steps
3. 1st Year Engineering Module:
Fundamentals of Professional Development
Year-long 5 credit core module
200+ students across all engineering programmes
Assessment – Reflection, portfolio, report
Module Learning Outcomes:
…demonstrate appropriate academic and professional
standards of written communication, including spelling,
grammar, structure, citation and presentation.
Learning Outcomes - Library :
understand the scholarly communications landscape (peer
review); know how to locate, evaluate a variety of different
sources (books/journals/websites); and understand
importance of avoiding plagiarism by citing and
referencing correctly.
Photo by Miguel Henriques on Unsplash
Mandatory
Attendance
2hr class
(x3)
4. ACTIVE LEARNING
Active learning engages students
in the process of learning
through activities and/or
discussion in class, as opposed
to passively listening to an
expert. It emphasizes higher-
order thinking and often involves
group work.
Freeman, S. et al. (2014)
Freeman, S. et al. (2014) ‘Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics’,
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), pp. 8410–8415. doi:10.1073/pnas.1319030111.
Image Generated with AI:
https://www.canva.com/ai-image-generator
5. ACTIVE LEARNING?
Engagement
Interaction
Develop higher order skills
Encourage independent learning
Improved learning experience
7. ACTIVITY 1
Opening activity
Settle the students
Guage expectations
Set the scene
Questions
Mix of general open-ended
questions and multiple choice
Assess understanding
Used later in session to see if
students have understood some
citing & referencing basics
Audience Participation Software
8.
9. ACTIVITY 2
Reading
List
Work in groups
Create a Google Doc –
Share with all group members
Find and select 2 books and 2 peer-reviewed
articles on chosen topic (provided)
Format references in Harvard style using
Cite Them Right
Provide a link to document (for feedback)
10. “Washing Line” Reference
Groups are provided with
a “chopped up” reference
Work together to construct
reference correctly (Harvard)
adding any missing details
ACTIVITY 3
Adapted from: Walsh, A. and Inala, P. (2010) Active Learning Techniques for Librarians: Practical Examples.
Oxford, UK: Chandos Publishing, pg. 56.
11. Dasari, B.L., Nouri, J.D., Brabazon, D. and Naher, S. (2017) ‘Graphene and derivatives
– Synthesis techniques, properties and their energy applications’, Energy, 140, pp.
766–778.
Journal title missing
Use Library Search to find
missing detail
Article title
Volume/Issue/
Page details
Authors
Year
12. KEY
TAKE-AWAYS
Quality and impact interactions
Students visibly more engaged
High level of participation
Produce good quality outputs
Positive feedback from lecturer
• Significant amount of preparation
• Staff resources 3 people for each 2hr
session (x3)
• Maintaining energy throughout can be
challenging
13. NEXT STEPS
• Seek approval from Ethics Committee to gather
and share student feedback
• Conduct pre and post class test to assess impact
• Introduce some new activities including
something on Gen-AI
• Make online tutorial mandatory before the class
• Use model for other large 1st year groups
