TDG Project Web-based Learning for Building & Construction Laboratory and Site Works Vincent Siu & Albert Cheung Department of Building & Construction TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Project Initiation Problems encountered 1.Students were not prepared for tutorial / lab work. 2.Students were used to passive learning. 3.Students viewed some course contents (such as safety) as boring and irrelevant. Look for solutions – Project aims 1.Course level approach – course specific rather than program domination 2.Motivate students 3.Apply OBTL pedagogy TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Objectives : 1.To promote participatory and investigative active learning at course level. 2.Take works safety as an introductory case such that the techniques can be extended to other courses, hence 3.To enable students to prepare themselves and be aware of the safety issues before commencement of course related works. 4.To develop a self-learning package on the web in laboratory and site works safety for BC and BST undergraduate students. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Intended Learning Outcomes 1.Acquire a widen awareness of safety in relation to the work. 2.Assess potential risks, and take appropriate precautions and measures before performing the work. 3.Recognize safety as a necessary and important part of engineer education. 4.Build up a safety culture. 5.Able to enact and comply with legal safety requirements in real life situations. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Intended Learning Outcomes Preparedness Engineer education Awareness Culture Enactment and compliance TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Project Components 1.Preliminary learning materials 2.Assessment tasks 3.Web-based platform 4.Wiki site 5.Pilot run TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Preliminary Learning Materials 1.Self-learning materials consist of 4 modules, covering general, electrical, mechanical and site safety. 2.Materials enhanced with graphics, animation and mini-games so that learning becomes more interesting. 3.Hyperlinks to other relevant websites added for up-to-date information on works safety and investigation. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Assessment Tasks 1.Multiple choice and /or short answer questions were used to assess the learning outcomes. 2.Students must go through the test on-line after completing each module. 3.Scores were assigned accurately and promptly using a computer-assisted marking system. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Assessment Tasks - Motivation 1.It is intended that students should study the materials and attempt the tests on line before attending the works sessions. 2.In order to motivate student participation, scores from the tests will become a bonus to the individual student’s coursework marks. 3.Another assessment is used as a qualifying criterion for students to proceed to the more active Wiki site. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Web-based Platform 1.We used the existing “Blackboard”, a familiar learning platform in CityU where students can access easily. 2.Another advantage is that we utilized the associated Wiki tools of Blackboard to build our Wiki facility. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Wiki 1.Once a student has passed the qualifying test, he can enter into the Wiki site. 2.He can then bring in new learning materials, share his experiences (on safety in this case), gives comments and also edit the materials input by peers. 3.From time to time, the Course Examiner or instructor will monitor and edit all the contributed contents, provide feedbacks, and transfer those appealing inputs to the preliminary materials. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Login Procedures 1.The Course Examiner / Co-ordinator provides a student list to the Blackboard Administrator to grant them access rights. 2.A new title “Web-based Learning in Works Safety” will appear under “My course” in the Blackboard home-page. 3.Click-in the title and go to the course documents. Web site TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Pilot Run 1.At the beginning of Semester B of 08/09, the package was applied to the course BC2627 “Building Science”. Students were informed to go through the learning materials and attempt the tests before attending the lab sessions. Bonus marks were then awarded. 2.Totally 123 F T and 25 P T students were involved. 3.The overall response rate was about 70%. 4.Students were able to apply the recently learnt safety topics when performing their laboratory works. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Student Feedbacks F T students : 1.No correct answers were given, especially if the questions did not come from the text. 2.Text rather lengthy. 3.Cannot relate laboratory environment to work sites. 4.Maybe useful in laboratory sessions but not useful in real works because lack of work experiences. 5.Bonus marks encourage participation. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Student Feedbacks P T students : 1.Students were more confident in laboratory activities having assessed the risks. 2.Students should wear protective clothing like white gowns – act as professionals. 3.To simulate trade practices, students should wear proper ppe, such as rubber gloves, safety shoes, etc., even though the risks were minimal in laboratory situations. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Conclusions 1.We are using the topic of safety as a typical application of motivation to stimulate active learning, particularly student participation and preparation. The results were positive. 2.The learning materials should be course specific rather than too general, and hence lengthy. Students can relate to the materials’ direct relevance. 3.At this stage, motivation is needed to encourage positive actions from students. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu

Conclusions 4.We hope that in the long run, students’ learning attitude will be changed. 5.All BC staff in charge of courses with laboratory content have expressed their interest and willingness to adopt the approach and methods developed in this project. 6.The paradigms used can be extended to all BC courses and similar CityU courses. TDG Project No PI: Mr Vincent Siu