Case Study 2 - Use of LauLima to Support Project Management and Reflection in Design Engineering Team Projects
Note that all of the LauLima Case Studies have been written based on the HEFCE 'Effective Practice with e-Learning' Template. (© HEFCE 2004).
Institution Name
The University of Strathclyde
Background
The Department of Design Manufacture and Engineering Management (DMEM) runs the Product Development Partnership scheme (PDP) which enables industry companies to realise projects through collaboration with teams of 4th year Product Design Engineering students and 5th year Product Design Engineering, Manufacturing and Management students. Over the course of 7 months, teams of 4 students are supported by an industry partner and an academic supervisor. Teams meet up face-to-face at least once a week to discuss and report on project development and can also progress work remotely using LauLima as a shared workspace and digital repository of design information.
Intended Outcomes
One of the main objectives of the PDP class is to encourage professional, independent thinking in a project context. The class design aims to improve reflection and support the processes of problem-based learning (PBL) in PDP through technological intervention. The system designed to support these activities is called LauLima and provides standard document management facilities, including hierarchical file gallery storage; wiki pages (web pages that can be linked together and edited by multiple users); and communication tools. With the support of LauLima students are encouraged to take ownership and management of all parts of their project and to maintain a presence on the web, by creating a team site; a project log or diary; online minutes of meetings; a project document file and complete an online reflective learning blog.
The Challenge
The work of Oliver [1] identifies student weaknesses in relation to Cowan's reflective model, [2] (i) in initial planning and in workflow management; (ii) student emphasis on finding and gathering resources rather than evaluating them; and, (iii) evidence that students are not good at reflecting back; all leading to poor evaluation of progress towards any problem solution. By making LauLima an integral part of the design project it can support the storage, sharing, structuring and management of project information supporting both reflection and project-based learning.
Established Practice
Teamwork requires students to be able to share all project resources and work with them in order to progress project development through reflection, decision-making, planning and action. For efficient and effective working, these shared resources need to be accessed quickly and easily by all team members at any time. Traditional methods for addressing this include portable storage media, such as memory keys or CDs which are not automatically backed up, do not facilitate version control and are physically held by one person. Students can also use their university network drives or hard drives, but these are not easily shared. Web pages or online storage can be used by more technologically minded students but there can be issues with security.
The e-learning Advantage
Using LauLima and having all project information in one central location allowed more flexible working patterns, suiting teamwork (asynchronous as well as synchronous working); supported document sharing; reduced document loss; offered a secure store for project resources; reduced the need for hard copies and saved time subsequently searching for project information. Students reported that LauLima had improved project outcomes by allowing them to work faster, more efficiently and be more organised. They were also more focused and better prepared for deadlines. Facilities in LauLima enabled more effective use of information resources which allowed students to focus on group activities towards providing solutions to problems. LauLima had indirectly supported learning on the project by allowing students to reflect more easily on an organised record of information, resources and project development and plan for action. Supervisors' access to the team wiki sites and reflective blogs offered a 'better picture' of their understanding of project problems and of what was being learnt. Interventions could more readily happen to facilitate any difficulties during the project.
Key Points for Effective Practice
It is important that students are familiar with the technology and have undertaken initial training and tasks prior to project work. Initially students had found LauLima difficult to use, but admitted through continued project use the functions became more familiar and easier to use. Students reported that they found information searching and organising difficult. We discovered that use of the system required to be underpinned by information literacy training. This proved very positive on the second iteration of the class.
The repository also supported learning by providing tools that enabled students to collaborate in the building of a shared representation of a design problem. During the project, students created linked wiki pages that illustrated their conceptual thinking; supported reflection; and recorded project development. This knowledge structuring is important because the more opportunities students have to actively inter-relate concepts, ideas, facts and rules with each other and with prior knowledge, the deeper the understanding and learning
There were some instances of student resistance. These were attributed to a number of factors: varied levels of computer experience within teams and not all students engaging with the technology; time taken to upload and download particularly from home; and the time taken to scan in existing paper-based material. These were either reduced or overcome during the project, e.g. referencing paper-based documents rather than converting them to a digital format.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The use of LauLima as a shared workspace and a digital repository has enabled the majority of teams to organise, structure and share project resources towards a common understanding of the project problem; reflect on project goals and make project progress; manage workflow and operate as an efficient team. The team wiki sites and project logs/diary and minutes (wiki pages) allowed quick sharing of information in teams and a record of project progress. The project file (file galleries) provided a centrally shared location for electronic files to support team working anywhere anytime. Both the wiki pages and the file galleries were reported to bring structure and organisation to project work. The system would be applicable in any situation where students are required to find, share, organise, manage and use information in teams.
Additional Information
The LauLima system was developed as part of the DIDET Project. LauLima is now available for download alongside further project information, including additional case studies demonstrating different types of uses of the system to support teaching and learning and research in higher education.
References
1. Oliver, R., Exploring the development of critical thinking skills through a web-supported problem-based learning environment, Chapter 8, Teaching and Learning Online (Ed Stephenson, J.) pp98-111, Kogan Page, London, 2001
2. Cowan, J., On becoming an innovative university teacher: reflection in action. London: SRHE & Open University Press, 1998
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