A concern in engineering education is students adopting a ‘recognise and reproduce’ approach to problem solving. In this study, an assignment was conceived and analysed through Legitimation Code Theory –… Click to show full abstract
A concern in engineering education is students adopting a ‘recognise and reproduce’ approach to problem solving. In this study, an assignment was conceived and analysed through Legitimation Code Theory – which allows for visualisation of students’ thinking, and to illuminate how students construct knowledge in open-ended problem solving. The assignment was based on students posing their own exam-style questions. Evidence for its subjective effect on the students was generated through students’ responses to a questionnaire. Most (72%) students found the assignment assisted their understanding and context of the work, while 75% believed the open-ended nature of the assignment would make them better engineers. About 52% said they would change the way they study based on the insights and selfreflection from the assignment. While several students discuss an approach focussed on repetition, recognition, and algorithmic learning, the assignment showed students using an open-ended approach. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 24 April 2020 Accepted 26 April 2021
               
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