Affording or constraining epistemological access: An analysis of a case-based approach in a first year process and materials engineering course.
Year: 2006
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The focus of this study was a case-based approach used in the first year course \nIntroduction to Process and Materials Engineering, PRME1002, at the University of the \nWitwatersrand in 2005. This approach attempted to promote epistemic access to Process \nand Materials Engineering by moving away from the more traditional decontextualised \nand contrived engineering problems and introducing context-rich cases entailing more \nauthentic engineering problems. The study investigated the extent to which the context \nrich problem-solving environment afforded the students epistemic access to Process and \nMaterials Engineering. This was done through an analysis of the form and content of \nstudents’ knowledge and problem-solving skills as evidenced in their written responses to \ncase-based problems. A modified form of the Structure of Learning Outcomes (SOLO) \ntaxonomy was used as the instrument of analysis. The research showed that students \ntended to work in fragmented ways despite the context. They tended not to fully explore \nthe context and as such could not successfully identify the salient aspects. They \nfrequently ignored evidence in the context and invented their own in order to be able to \nuse strategies that they were most familiar with. These findings suggest that that while the \ncase-based approach introduced in the course, theoretically has the hallmarks of an ideal \napproach with which to create a favourable environment for learning, if students treat \nknowledge as fragmented and aren’t persuaded by the context to change their ways of \nworking, the case-based approach does not afford students optimal epistemological \naccess.
Author: Linda Kotta
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W189776783