Trahan Jr., G N (2009) A comparison of the effectiveness of two alternative instructional strategies for teaching basic construction surveying concepts. PhD thesis, Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College, USA.
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to compare the effectiveness of two alternative instructional strategies for teaching basic construction surveying concepts. The basic concepts of construction surveying, office, field, angles, distance and elevation must be thoroughly understood before complex construction surveying applications can be performed. Instruction in applied science courses such as construction surveying is constantly being impacted by advances in technology. Technological developments require an evolving pedagogy incorporating change while maintaining the integral basics. The dynamics of change require an instructor to maintain basic construction surveying concepts consideration while developing authentic experiences which can be incorporated into the new technologies.This experiment was performed using two different instructional formats, integrated and separated, for instructing study participants in basic construction surveying. The integrated format presented the related collaborative instructional components, theoretical and practical, during the same class while the separated format presented the related instruction, theoretical and practical, in a traditional manner with separated lecture and lab. Pre and post achievement tests were given to all four intact classes used in this experiment for measuring the study participant’s pre-instruction and post-instruction knowledge.The experimental results indicated that the designed curriculum was effective in teaching the basic construction surveying concepts. The two alternative instructional treatments, integrated and separated were both found to be statistically similar. Additionally, class time and class size were determined to have no measurable effect on achievement. This research provides applied science instructors the flexibility to design courses which can be used for a variety of different situations. Based on the results of this experiment, traditionally large classes can utilize the separated lecture-lab format with the expectation that student achievement will be the same for the small classes which can be instructed using the integrated format. These findings can also be used as the basis for a distance education class which can present the lecture portion in a self directed web-based format while keeping the lab portion in a context which utilizes the typical instructor student lab.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Burnett, M F |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | education; flexibility; teaching; experiment |
| Index terms: | pedagogy, new technology, experiment, strategy, effectiveness, instructor, dynamics, science, surveying |
| Subjects: | specialized education, teaching methods, management, data collection methods, innovation and technology management, practitioner, performance management, systems engineering, health monitoring assessment and metrics |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Quality Management, Engineering Principles, Health and Safety, Education |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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