FIG Commission 2 - Professional Education

Working Group - Joint Commission 2 and Young Surveyors Network
- Learning styles in surveying education

Objectives

• To survey, analyse and document the learning styles of students at different ages (including young surveyors) and from different regions.
• Increase our understanding of the varied ways that surveying students learn.
• Contribute to the final Commission 2 report on education.
• Exploring the needs of society and endorsing universities and other educational organizations to develop mechanisms and processes that will help to meet those needs.
• Methods and content of education: To support and promote advances in learning and teaching methods and content of curricula with special emphasis on the impact of technology and learning styles on education.
• Knowledge sharing. Promoting sharing of advances in professional education, research in surveying education and training and initiate joint projects (curriculum development, educational material development, joint courses, quality assurance etc.). Improving dissemination of information on educational theory and practice to the members across the world.

Chair

Specific projects

This working group will work with the Commission 2 chair and vice chari, and YSN chair to design and implement a survey/questionnaire of their members on student learning preferences. A key focus in the first year will be designing the questions and then implementing the questionnaire in as many regions as practical.

The questions to be asked will be carefully selected to explore a range of aspects of how people of different ages and from different regions learn. This could include study habits (increasingly online/Youtube?), the style of learning (cramming at the end/regular?), what teaching and classroom approaches were effective (blended learning, PBL, active learning), how they learn new technology, how teaching and learning technology is used and helpful for learning.

The working group will seek support from FIG to send to FIG academic members, and of the FIG regional networks and Working Group 2.1 to distribute to regional networks. This will take the scope beyond a focus on young surveyors.

Support will be needed for the data analysis of the questionnaire results. Commission 2 and the YSN will apply to the FIG Foundation to provide support for the data analysis of the questionnaire results. After the FIG Council meeting this week I will work with Melissa to make an application to the FIG Foundation for funding.

The results of the questionnaire will be supplemented by discussion at workshops, inlcuding at the events below. This increased understanding and questionnaire results and analysis will inform publications during the 4-year term, and the final Commission 2 report on education.

What we are working on - Contribute a chapter on student learning styles to the Commission 2 report on surveying education.

What's New

2022

This is a joint FIG Commission 2 and FIG Young Surveyors Network project that is looking at the way students learn and study in the context of blended learning. Working group 2.3 has made a big contribution to the final Commission 2 report Enhancing Surveying Education through Effective Blended Learning through the questionnaire on learning preferences and approaches in the context of blended learning. The members of WG2.3 contributed to a chapter in the final report on lessons learned from the response to the pandemic, including the perspectives of students and staff.

Progress since the endorsement of Work Plan in FIGWW in Hanoi in April 2019 The questionnaire was distributed through FIG networks with around 200 responses from most regions of the world. Commission 2 will be presenting these results at a workshop on blended learning at the 2021 Working Week for validation.

Chethna Ben presented the work of WG2.3, including results of the questionnaire at the 5th Young Surveyors Conference and the 2021 Commission 2 Annual Meeting and Seminar.

2020

• Initial literature review completed.
• Draft questionnaire developed and Ethics approval for a pilot study of approximately 300-400 students (in 4 countries) in 2020 submitted to RMIT University and University of South Pacific in early 2020.
• The questionnaire will then be sent out through FIG networks in the first quarter 2020, and preliminary results of this pilot study to be presented in Amsterdam in 2020 and discussed at a YSN workshop.

2019

This working group major activity is a global questionnaire on surveying student learning preferences and approaches. The focus is on Millennials and Generation Z and includes the use of digital learning tools.

Current activities and future plans

•  initial literature review completed.
• draft questionnaire developed and Ethics approval almost ready for submission to RMIT University and University of South Pacific.
• We hope to have the questionnaire sent out through FIG networks by November, and results by the end of the year.
• This will allow preliminary findings to be presented in Amsterdam in 2020. A non-peer reviewed paper will be prepared for 2020 FIG Working Week in Amsterdam. There will also be a YSN workshop to discuss the preliminary results.