Teaching-learning environments and student learning in electronic engineering

This paper presents early findings from the ETL project, a national study in Britain which is investigating teaching and learning across five contrasting subject areas in higher education. The focus here is on electronic engineering and, in particular on analogue electronics. Staff in six course units have collaborated with the researchers to enable data to be collected from their students, and in four of the units changes were made on the basis of the evidence presented to the them. The effects of these ‘collaborative initiatives’ were investigated using data obtained from the following year groups derived from questionnaires and interviews with both students and staff. On this basis, a clearer idea has been developed about the nature of teaching and learning in the subject with implications for ways of enhancing the teaching-learning environments provided for students in future. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT AS A WHOLE