Blog Three: But What Does It All Mean

I truly enjoyed reading about problem based learning and the model for development and assessment of effective team work (Murzi et al., 2020). The structure of the study permitted students to actively engage in their learning while pushing them to apply what they already know (Murzi et al., 2020). This type of assignment allows students to take stock of what they know and practice application. in going so the assignments breaks the fourth-wall, showing students how their class work will align with their career. Murzi and his colleagues noted the benefit of having an instructor to guild the teamwork process and in doing so the classroom became a safe place to make mistakes and try again (2020).

Having read the article I metaphorically walked away with two key insights.

The first is that I now know that, “teamwork is core competency for engineering graduates'' (Murzi et al., 2020 p. 274). This is an important insight to me because I teach a course which is not required but commonly taken by engineering students. Knowing that teamwork is a competence allows me to structure my assignments in a way that while being more meaningful for future engineers.

The second key takeaway from this article for me is that students like to see that their work in the classroom is directly related to their future career (Murcia et al., 2020). As a student affairs practitioner myself, it is easy to make connections between theory and practical application of said theory. But this is not the case of all majors and it can be more challenging for undergraduates students to make these connections. I am grateful for having the opportunity to learn about problem based learning. It has shown me that if I do some of the heavy lifting on the front end by connecting the material to a students careers goals, then they will be more able to engage with the material in a meaningful way.

References

Murzi, H. G., Chowdhury, T. M., Karlovsek, J., & Ruiz, U. B. C. (2020). Working in large teams:

measuring the impact of a teamwork model to facilitate teamwork development in

engineering students working in a real project. International Journal of Engineering

Education, 36(1 B), 274–295.