CDIO2019: Aarhus, DenmarkThe CDIO Approach to Foster the State of Flow Experience a workshop

Riadh Habash, PhD, P.Eng

focused with attention: the power of brain, the force ofmuscles, the feel of complete immersion in the moment,absorbed in the activity, tired without notice, that is: the stateof flow experience!

involve me i learn(deep learning)

tell me i forgetteach me i may remember

(content mastery)ancient Chinese proverb

what, why, how

topics rather than subjects whole system

problem solving

choice

problem finding

personalizationstudio

Think Feel Act

Workspacesfor

Conceive, Design,

Implement, Operate,

and for

Design-Build Experience

engineering is about

discovering,

integrating,

experiencing,

collaborating,

failingand succeeding

across functions,

disciplines,

and peoplehttps://jessiejacobs.co.uk/2015/03/03/failure/

State of flow is important in education since it encourages long-terminterest in the activity of learning. One of the main conditions forflow, according to Csikszentmihalyi (who first coined the term in1975), is that an activity be challenging at a level just above learner’scurrent abilities.

The question: how can teachers encourage flow and howcan students achieve flow?

To put the art at the start, a case of teaching “the knowing-about andthe knowing-to” related to CDIO context (design-build experience andworkspaces) will be presented in this workshop.

Teach as taught!While looking back over my about 35 years as an educator, I have witnessed significant change on many things but few basic things still remain unchanged.

In technology, we have progressed from slide rules to calculators to computers and the Internet. Just notice; what that entails?

As we are witnessing an exciting times for engineering! The challenge is how to teach 21st century skills and competencies. Shall we focus on the traditional curriculum content or on the environment in which they learn?

The “what” and “why”What are the pedagogies that make-up engineering education?

How are they related to engineering professional practice?

When students leave the school, what they should know?

What types of knowledge are currently taught? Why they are taught?

How do students understand their experience during their study?

Are pedagogical practises driven by what the students do in class or

by what the instructor does?

How do we integrate new approaches with a minimum student resistance?

Learning for life-long professional practice

The “bucket theory of knowledge”

Course content should not be used as an end in itself, but as a means of helping students learn how to learn.

Teaching should shift from covering all required content to guiding principles of the learning process.

Grading should not be based on reciting back lecture notes. Sometimes, grading is very degrading for students.

Information Consumption(Basic use of technology)

Practice skills and procedures; take test or turn in homework; find information in the

Internet; write reports, etc.

Knowledge Creation(High-level use of technology)

Analyze data; collaborate with peers and teachers; develop and use simulations, build products; create presentations.

Thinking literacyFoundational, content level, structures, top-down.

Thinking competency Applications, guided, semi-structures, top-down bottom-up.

Thinking proficiency Synthesis, project-based, bottom-up, open-ended.

Personalized learning is to get

away from the concept of

“lesson” by designing topic-

case- project-learner-centred

education.

Digital tools have transformed

learning to collaborative

environments.

Toward state of flow experience

Lectures and Exams: 60%Concepts and Analysis

Design

Reflection: 10%++Project Portfolio

Class PresentationVirtual Lab

g9toengineering.com Greenengineers.ca

Lab: 10%Hands-on

Structured Tasks

Project: 20% ++ Whole System

Own ChoiceCDIO Based

Mechatronics course for state of flow

Knowledge Personalization and CreationApplying, Analyzing, Evaluating, Creating

Knowledge AcquisitionRemembering and Understanding

Project ExhibitionSharing

Project Competition TeamsSelecting

A typical “whole” mechatronics system

as a “topic- case-reflection-project-

based” platform for teaching mechatronics.

“g9toengineering.com” was developed by the author in

2007 and maintained by students from an undergraduate

mechatronics class to enable knowledge creation and sharing.

“Greenengineers.com” is a complementary

virtual community of practice hub developed

by the author in 2010 to strengthen student

competition teams and clubs.

State of flow experienceis a learning journey from routine and unfeeling to

enlightenment, empowerment, emancipation, entrepreneurial mindset

uOttawa SAE Aerospace