MEttLE: a modelling-based learning environment for undergraduate engineering estimation problem solving

Abstract

Estimation is an important class of problems that engineering undergraduates must be able to solve. However teaching-learning of estimation is under emphasized in the current engineering curriculum. In this paper, we report on the first cycle of a design-based research project to design a technology-enhanced learning environment (TELE) to help students learn estimation. The TELE includes features such as a progressive higher-order modelling-based structuring of the estimation process, a problem system simulator and metacognitive scaffolds. We performed a lab study and found that learners were able to use the features in the TELE to solve the estimation problem and obtain an order-of-magnitude estimate. Further, learners learned some of the reasoning processes involved in performing estimation and recognized the role of evaluation and the need for practical considerations in estimation. We identified the roles of various features in the TELE for learning these estimation reasoning processes. These results have implications for the redesign of our TELE to improve student learning of estimation.