Evaluation of teaching and learning processes in a computer-supported mechanical engineering course

This paper focuses upon an evaluation of the teaching and learning processes in a computer-supported first year undergraduate solids course in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Surrey. There was a great richness in the variety of learning activities taking place in the workshops. The tutors saw themselves as principally playing a support role, as a facilitator of student learning. However, the students particularly valued both individual tutor support and tutors adopting an explicit teaching role in working through examples of problems with the group as a whole. In particular, the students signalled the transformative potential of tutor support, the way it could change their thinking, compared with other types of support. This should give pause for thought about the most appropriate staff:student ratios in computer-based workshops, and the most effective ways tutors can support learning in such environments.