Complete thesis - Murdoch University

help and underlying manuals. The former through a ‘help’ icon on an activity screen, whilethe latter is best demonstrated through the underlying help in the FM (Formal Methods)topics, where help is activated through ‘hot’ spots in the notation itself. Both of thesemechanisms are not imposed on the student, but are readily available. Links to the helpmechanisms are seamless, which enables the student to maintain focus on the learning activity,rather than on the task of retrieving aid.Students are also able to monitor their own conceptual understanding through the MCQenvironment (see Figure A.5). Described in greater detain in Roy and Armarego (2003) thisenvironment allows the teacher to set several parameters: whether the student can browse;whether a set of questions can be attempted more than once; time/date of test availability.Questions/answers/explanations are input and optionally assigned a degree of difficulty, witha ‘set’ composed by including/excluding specific questions. After an attempt, the studentchooses to have the test marked. Once marked short explanations can often be found underthe ‘?’ buttons. A database records visits, attempts and score achieved, with this informationavailable to the unit co-ordinator.A.4 Student cohort for ENG260Before 2002 the student cohort for ENG260 was predominantly SE majors (see Figure A.6),with a majority of students having completed their first year at Murdoch. The implication ofthis was an enculturation to the environment in the School of Engineering, as well as a clearindividual motivation to do well in this unit – it would determine student ability to completethe degree in their chosen discipline. However, in 2000 University policy changed to enablestudents with qualifications from a near-by technical college to articulate into programmesin the School of Engineering. These students came to Engineering at the commencementof second year, and consequently enrolled in ENG260 with very different expectations ofthe learning environment. A strong bi-polar distribution of the final marks for the ENG260during 2001 was a primary impetus for reflection and examination of the learning environmentand teaching style.464