APPLICATION OF SPREADSHEETS TO ACCELERATE THE LEARNING PROCESS: TIME SERIES ANALYSIS OF TIDE OSCILLATIONS
Abstract
Methods for teaching Engineering processesdemand previous knowledge of mathematical tools,introduced in courses basic cycles. Some tools, however,might have not been learnt beforehand. A solution for thisdifficulty is to encourage students to learn themathematical tool inductively via problem-basedlearning. The paper reports the pedagogical experienceof performing spectral analysis on a sea-level time serieswith a Civil Engineering undergraduate class. The serialmoving average is computed to estimate tide-oscillationtrend, so making students familiar to these concepts.Calculations are performed via electronic spreadsheet,using formulae programmed by students themselves. Themotivation caused by the problem and the appeal tointuition could better fix concepts, and shorten learningtime – from six to three teaching hours (although datatyping and data organization took an extra homeworkhour). Finally, the computer lab workshop environment(with targets and deadlines) demonstrated the value ofteam work and enhanced student performance.Index Terms ⎯ Computer-based Engineering education,Mathematical methods, Time-series Statistics, Problembasedlearning, Tide oscillation.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Indexing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Scientific Societies and Directories
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow Us