Abstract:

The university working methods differ from the College and therefore often generate maladjustments and failures among first-year students. In traditional teaching, students spend little time in the classroom solving and analyzing problems. It is implicit that it is their responsibility to work the application and analysis cognitive levels, which are the most difficult in the learning process, on their own outside of the classroom.

This article presents a device that was implemented in a first-year engineering course to improve support for students on the methodological aspects of the course. This involves the creation of a tutoring service to prevent failure and respond to occasional learning difficulties. The effects of this system on motivation and success are discussed.

Created in 2018, the tutoring service of the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at Polytechnique Montreal is voluntary and therefore accessible to everyone. The educational content of the sessions is defined by the student according to his needs and difficulties. A total of 10 courses from the baccalaureate program are supported. The tutors are mainly teachers, lecturers and students. Students are recruited at levels: masters and doctorate. The sessions should allow students to develop their cognitive skills. Usually, tutors are asked to answer questions on problem solving, in order to help the student in the preparation of assessments: homework, quiz, midterm exam and final exam.

After a few years of service, it seems essential to quantitatively and qualitatively measure the effectiveness of this device in order to eventually initiate improvements. An investigation thanks to an online questionnaire was then launched and the preliminary results will be presented in the rest of this article.

The survey of students in the static course highlighted the positive impact of this device on cognitive engagement and academic success. Preliminary results show that 69% of respondents agree that the center tutoring promotes understanding of the course and a 4% decrease in the failure rate was observed compared to the sessions of previous years. The device constitutes an additional learning tool, but remains insufficient to slow down the failure rate on its own. It is necessary to identify upstream through advanced investigations the other factors responsible for failure to better target the actions to be carried out.

Keywords:

Tutoring, cognitive levels, failure rate, learning difficulties.