AMC improves learning outcomes for students

A research project involving AMC staff aimed at improving learning outcomes in first year engineering has just received a $148,000 research grant.

The AMC’s Dr Giles Thomas and Dr Anna Carew, in conjunction with the University of Wollongong, UTAS and University of Technology Sydney, obtained the grant from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council for their project A proactive approach to addressing student learning diversity in Engineering Mechanics.

According to Dr Thomas the project arose from the increasing learning diversity among students studying engineering mechanics. The unit features widely throughout Australian institutions but failure rates between 20 and 50 percent for introductory mechanics are common.

“We’re looking at what the contributing factors to those failure rates are,” Dr Thomas said.

The aim of the research is to develop a publicly available learning resource for engineering mechanics and a guide to their applications.

“What we’re hoping to do is to create some tools to help lecturers in engineering mechanics overcome some of these factors,” Dr Thomas said.

Information released by:
Media Office, Australian Maritime College
Patrick Cranny
Phone: +61 3 6335 4484
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Email: p.cranny@amc.edu.au