Understanding the effectiveness of cognitive and social constructivism, elements of inductive practice, and student learning styles on selected learning outcomes in materials engineering

Research studies in engineering education indicate that students build scaffolds from existing cognitive structures to new information when the students are able to make connections to their existing knowledge base. That research is founded upon the basic principles of social and cognitive constructivism. The effectiveness of two such active course contexts is compared, thus evaluating the characteristics of effective context based active experiences. This study also investigated whether the two contexts resulted in different outcomes for students with different learning styles. The framework of the active experiences in a materials engineering course was changed from music strings and stringed instrument design to biomedical devices which experience significant loads in service because selected student outcomes were still below expectations. Simultaneously, the research project was changed from an individual activity to a cooperative learning experience. More in-class active experiences were also completed cooperatively. The net result was an improvement in thirteen student outcomes and in written and oral language usage. The effect of student learning styles on outcomes was not apparent, but they may be important in forming effective cooperative teams. Overall, stringed musical instruments were not as robust in building student outcomes when compared to the biomedical device approach.