Exercise problems that facilitate deep approaches to learning

Abstract

University courses use several teaching and learning activities. The most common
is probably the lecture, but it is often complemented, at least in the faculty
of engineering, by problem solving classes, laboratory practicals, projects
and sometimes also other activities, such as home assignments or essays. This
project will focus on exercises and problem solving classes and how they can be
improved to support better learning.
So what does a good problem or exercise look like? This seems at first glance
to be a very difficult question to answer since learning styles vary greatly between
students and problems are designed for a particular course. Two courses that
have roughly the same content, but are given in different universities, might
have different examination forms. As a result, problems that are suitable in one
course might not be suitable in the other.
The goal of this project is not to develop a universal algorithm for problem
construction. That would clearly not be possible. Instead, we will look at
well known concepts and beliefs that are results from research in teaching and
learning. We look at the following concepts
• Motivation - High motivation influences and stimulates learning.
• Transfer of Learning - Previous knowledge is used when acquiring new
knowledge.
• Constructive Alignment - There should be a clear link between course
goals, teaching activities and examination.
With this as background we aim to formulate a few ideas that can be kept in
mind when designing new problems. The goal is to improve the problems used
in two courses at LTH.