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Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Engineering, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Student success and throughput rates remain a challenge at South African higher education institutions (Strydom, Mentz and Kuh, 2010) and the results in Industrial Engineering at the Durban University of Technology are no exception. Statistics released by the Department of Management Information Systems at this university in November 2012 on the graduation rates of students registered for the National Diploma: Industrial Engineering from 2009 to 2011 bear testimony to this, as the average graduation rate is between 10% and 21%. This research study investigated the learning styles, teaching methods and student performance in Industrial Engineering at a selected university of technology in South Africa by examining the preferred learning styles of students, and lecturers’ preferred teaching styles at various levels. The Felder and Silverman Model (1988) which was specifically designed to capture significant differences in learning styles amongst engineering students, was employed as the framework for the study. Using a mixed-methods research approach, the target population for the study was the 200 students registered for the National Diploma: Industrial Engineering at the Durban University of Technology in 2013. The lecturers were identified through convenience sampling. The sample comprised five lecturers and 150 students. The participants were recruited by sending letters to inform them about the study and its purpose. Student participation was completely voluntary. The data was collected through questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. The study used the ILS Questionnaire developed by Felder and Solomon to assess the four scales of leaning style preference among engineering students. The questionnaire was adapted to include some demographic information such as race and gender. After the lecturers were interviewed, direct observation took place in the class room in order to determine their teaching style. The researcher ensured validity of the data through triangulation and tested the reliability of the ILS questionnaire by running a pilot study. In order for the questionnaire to be reliable, the results should be the same on both occasions. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to analyse the data from the ILS questionnaire and the data from the interviews were analysed using NVivo™ software. After the learning styles and teaching styles were identified, the quasi experiment was used to determine if changes in the lecturers’ teaching methods had any influence on the students’ learning styles and performance. It was found that this was indeed the case. In some instances such as Engineering Work Study 1, changes in the teaching method had a positive effect on student performance, but in modules such as Costing 2 and Production Engineering 2, the changes negatively impacted student performance. The study therefore confirmed that teaching styles and learning styles influence student performance. This knowledge could be used by lecturers to familiarise themselves with their students’ learning styles and to match their teaching to these learning styles in a manner that benefits all students. Students also need to be aware of their preferred learning styles and to be guided on how to use these to improve their performance in each of their modules. / M

What constitutes a quality solution to an authentic task from industry? This study seeks to address this question through the examination of two expert solutions to an authentic engineering task used in the Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering curriculum at Oregon State University. The two solutions were generated by two teams of expert engineers with varying backgrounds. The experts solved a process development problem situated in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Transcripts of audio recordings, design notebooks, and other work products were analyzed to identify common features in the two expert solutions. The study found that both experts placed a large focus on information gathering, modeling before experimentation, and fine tuning of the process. These solution features define a core set of expert competencies and facilitate understanding of high quality solution traits. An additional goal of the study was to identify competencies unique to each expert solution. It was observed that the expert teams used different proportions of first principles modeling and statistical experimental design to solve the problem. This proportion was dependent on the problem solver’s background and therefore should be expected to vary among student solutions. Implications of the work regarding instruction and assessment in engineering education are discussed. / Graduation date: 2012

In 2000 the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Oregon State University began a new and innovative program named TekBots[superscript TM]. This program was created to solve the problems of students in existing undergraduate engineering education not having sufficient skill when graduating in six program educational objectives; Depth, Breadth, Professionalism, Innovation, Community, and Troubleshooting. TekBots uses several core values such as personal ownership, curriculum continuity, contextual teaching, fun, and hands on learning, to encourage students to learn and improve. Since the inception of the program two courses have been greatly refined. An evaluation of the courses supports our indications of improvement our program educational objectives. This thesis presents the TekBots program and the details of the first two TekBots courses. / Graduation date: 2003

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The study presented in this dissertation focusses on the analysis of novices' trajectories in learning genres of their profession, engineering. The goals of the study are: (a) to refine the current understanding of what constitutes professional genre knowledge and of how novices learn and use genres of professional communication, and (b) to test the effectiveness of the suggested pedagogy for an Engineering Communication course. This qualitative longitudinal exploration includes ten case studies that span eight years and trace the participants' trajectories through the university and workplaces. I use a combination of three theoretical perspectives---Rhetorical Genre Studies, Activity Theory, and situated learning---as a lens for the analysis of novices' learning trajectories on their way to becoming professional communicators. The study demonstrates that in addition to the knowledge of genre conventions and understanding of an audience's expectations, genre knowledge is a result of a summative effect of such ingredients accumulated from different sources at different time periods as (a) cultural capital, (b) domain content expertise, (c) the novice's understanding of the improvisational qualities of genre, (d) agency, as reflected in the novice's ability to both seize and create kairotic moments in the chronological flux of time and enact genres in the ways that are recognizable by the community of practice, (e) formal education, (f) workplace experiences, and (g) private intention. The study indicates that the ingredients of genre knowledge accumulated in one context may be used in another, that is, that rhetorical strategy may be portable, thus allowing novices to adapt genres learned elsewhere to a new rhetorical situation. The study also shows that communication practices can be successfully taught outside of local contexts, for example, in the academic classroom. In addition I draw pedagogical implications of the inquiry for the communication classroom; for example, that communication instructors need to extend their pedagogies beyond teaching genre conventions and audience awareness and provide classroom contexts that would allow students to develop the understanding of genre as allowing for flexibility and educated intervention. The study also shows that the timing of the offering of domain-specific communication courses is crucial for the students to be able to develop the sense of connections among communication courses, subject matter courses, and professional practice.

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