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The pedagogy of interactive models

John W. Liston
School of Civil Engineering
Queensland University of Technology


The third year of a civil engineering degree is often a transition stage for students. They are increasingly required to apply the knowledge learnt throughout their earlier education. This includes not only the earlier years of the course but also a range of generic skills that have already been acquired either at university or elsewhere. For most degree programs, this corresponds to an increasing emphasis on application subjects including design and construction subjects. The majority of students find great difficulty in modifying their thought processes from just knowing formulae to a more lateral form of thinking.

The normal academic learning environment is one in which theories and facts are presented to students as rules or maxims that are learnt 'parrot fashion'; theories and rules are normally developed from first principles. Students are assumed to have a thorough understanding of the assumptions and functions of the models and theories and are encouraged to formulate problems so that only a limited and well defined set of parameters need be considered. This leads to students developing the false impression that once they have learnt a rule or theory, all they need to be given is the starting parameters and the rule or model will always predict the outcome. Where more complex systems are considered, the system is subdivided into various sub elements that are assumed to act independently. Under this regime it is normal for the rule or theory to predict a unique outcome for any given starting point.

Models have been used for teaching purposes in engineering courses, possibly since the time of Julius Caesar. A number of papers have described approaches utilising models in teaching in the traditional areas of civil engineering in the past. [Heywood, 1992; Mahendran et al, 1993; Liston and Heldt, 1994] In order to learn engineering principles, and particularly construction principles, deep learning is experienced by doing rather than listening. Reading books, listening to lectures or watching videos, no matter how inspiring, does not have the learning value or impact that is found in a 'hands on' learning experience. The construction group in the school has considered a range of options in which models could be utilised.

For a model to be not only an active but also an interactive learning tool, students must

Students seem to have a magical belief in a 'real world' which is entirely different from anything that they have experienced and different from the world of the text book and lecture room. They seem to baulk at the idea of applying anything they have learnt in either another subject or, even worse, the world outside of the university to a problem posed in class. The purpose of the model approach is not to just increase the understanding of principles but also become a means of developing generic skills such as team work, observation skills, understanding interaction of different perspectives and the ability to adapt skills already acquired to the problem at hand.

Contact person: John W. Liston. Email: j.liston@qut.edu.au
Voice: +61(0)7 3864 2243 Fax: +61(0)7 3864 1515

Please cite as: Liston, J. W. (2000). The pedagogy of interactive models. In Flexible Learning for a Flexible Society, Proceedings of ASET-HERDSA 2000 Conference. Toowoomba, Qld, 2-5 July. ASET and HERDSA. http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/gen/aset/confs/aset-herdsa2000/abstracts/liston-abs.html


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Created 16 June 2000. Last revised: 16 June 2000. HTML: Roger Atkinson [atkinson@cleo.murdoch.edu.au]
This URL: http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/gen/aset/confs/aset-herdsa2000/abstracts/liston-abs.html