FACILITATING INDEPENDENT LEARNING USING PROJECT-BASED METHOD

Many engineering disciplines require practitioners to be conversant with codes or standards of practice that are relevant to their area of discipline. Introducing the content of these codes and standards in a class using traditional approach can be challenging as the topics are typically dry and uninteresting. There may also be a danger of the lesson being too theoretical. Students may not know how to apply this knowledge in real situations; which is the more important learning outcome of such topics. In this paper, we share how a projectbased method can be used to enhance students‟ learning of such topics. Building Refurbishment, a module offered by the School of Engineering in Ngee Ann Polytechnic uses project-based method to deliver a topic on Refurbishment for Barrier-Free Accessibility in Buildings. The content of this topic is largely based on the document - Code on Accessibility in Building Environment published by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore. Students work in teams to submit a proposal to refurbish a chosen type of building, for a class of user (elderly, visually impaired, disabled persons and etc) that would satisfy the requirements under the Code. In the process, students have to perform background research by studying sections of the Code that relates to the building type and user class they have selected. They then have to conduct an on site survey of a real building. In this exercise, students play the role of building auditors and make an assessment of the building‟s compliance and non-compliance in providing barrier-free accessibility based on the guidelines in the Code. Using the results of their survey, students work on their proposal by listing all findings and recommendations for areas that require refurbishments. They have to support their statements made in the proposal by quoting the relevant guidelines from the Code. The use of the project-based method to deliver this topic has resulted in many desirable outcomes. Firstly, students are given greater autonomy in their learning. They go through the Code on their own; formulate their own understanding through discussions with other teammates and consultation sessions with tutors. This facilitates independent learning, an important lifelong learning skill for students to acquire. The need to conduct an audit and submit a refurbishment proposal has encouraged students to go deeper into the topic. They now have to know how to use the Code, where to locate the relevant information, understand the guidelines and then apply them to their project. The entire process has helped to deepen students‟ learning. Finally, the fact that real buildings are involved has helped students relate what they have learnt to real life, thus making a potentially dry topic interesting, meaningful and relevant.