Exploring introduction courses to engineering programmes at LTH

Abstract

Starting studies in higher education is an experience filled with many expectations from both the students and the teachers. Engineering programmes in particular consist of courses related to fundamental knowledge during the first years of education. Acquiring this fundamental knowledge is often a daunting task and may contribute to low motivation in completing the education. In this study, the authors make use of course syllabuses and course experience questionnaire (CEQ) results to analyse the purpose and effect of three different introduction courses. The results show that critical alignment is particularly important in introduction courses since the aim of the course is to prepare the students for future studies and professional work,
indicating that a deep approach to learning is essential. All courses in higher education take up a lot of valuable resources and the purpose of each course should therefore be clearly specified, which doesn't always seems to be the case.