Evaluating Learning Outcomes by Applying Interdisciplinary Hands-On Learning to Advanced Technology Courses

The purpose of this study is to understand the learning outcomes of students who participate in interdisciplinary hands-on advanced technology courses and the factors influencing their outcomes as well as to determine whether learning outcomes and cognitive development are affected by students’ motivation for selecting the course with regard to their learning abilities. The subjects of this study are students who were enrolled in interdisciplinary advanced technology courses at a university located in Northern Taiwan from 2020 to 2021. We recruited 171 students to complete measures of their motivation for selecting the course and to complete a prelearning outcome scale during the first week; a learning abilities scale was completed during the ninth week; and a postlearning outcomes scale was completed during the sixteenth week. We recruited 96 students to participate in interviews after they completed the course to determine their cognitive development. The results showed that participants’ average learning outcomes scores on the posttest were significantly higher than those on the pretest. After students participated in the course, 66.7% of them were in the “Apply” stage, indicating they could apply the knowledge they learned to other situations, while 25% were in the “Analyze” stage, indicating they could deconstruct the course knowledge based on its structure and understand the correlations among various items of course knowledge. Participants’ interdisciplinary abilities were found to mediate the relationship between their autonomous motivation and cognitive development.

本研究旨在探究参与跨学科实操先进技术课程的学生的学习成果及其影响因素，并厘清学习成果与认知发展是否会因学生选课动机结合其学习能力而受到影响。本研究的受试对象为2020至2021学年就读于中国台湾北部某高校跨学科先进技术课程的学生。研究团队共招募171名学生，于课程第一周完成选课动机量表与预学习成果量表（prelearning outcome scale）施测，第九周完成学习能力量表（learning abilities scale）施测，第十六周完成学习后成果量表（postlearning outcomes scale）施测。另有96名学生在结课后参与访谈，以评估其认知发展水平。研究结果显示，受试者在课后测试的平均学习成果得分显著高于课前测试。结课后，66.7%的学生处于“应用”阶段，即能够将所学知识迁移至其他应用场景；25%的学生处于“分析”阶段，即能够依据知识架构拆解课程内容，并理解各知识点间的内在关联。研究发现，学生的跨学科能力（interdisciplinary abilities）在自主动机（autonomous motivation）与认知发展之间发挥中介作用。