Engineering learning through aerospace engineering

This paper presents the results of an investigation into identifying what is good engineering laboratory practice to maximise student learning. The UK engineering accreditation bodies require all engineering degrees to have a significant amount of laboratory based learning, yet the literature on how learners construct knowledge from engineering laboratories typically still cite Dewey (1910) [1]. The role of the laboratory, whether simulation or physical experimentation, is to develop: students' learning, students' ability to put theory into practice, and reflective habits, so that students become able to draw sensible conclusions from experimental data. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to evaluate first year undergraduate aerospace students' ability to apply theoretical knowledge (gained from lecture and seminar) to tasks in an associated laboratory. The results indicate that undertaking a number of laboratories is important to assist in building student learning of a subject, and that a requirement to articulate their reflections and ability to assimilate knowledge from laboratory is critical to maximise the depth of learning from the laboratory. The results of this work are informing the future designs of the engineering laboratory space, and laboratory learning, teaching, assessment and laboratory lesson plans at Sheffield Hallam University.