Learning Evaluation in Engineering Studies: Cognitive Assessment, Informational Scaling and Systemic Modeling of the Knowledge Acquisition Process

Abstract

The research work presented is in line with previous work on the complexity of the learning process. This complexity is approached through the study of perception, regarded as a non-deterministic system of interactions that evolves over time. The activity of these interactions is achieved through the various senses mobilized by learners.

We have conducted a study intended to define a reliable procedure to measure learners’ perceptions of the skills expected through the engineering training curriculum, as well as their impact on the way these learners mobilize, under the influence of these perceptions, environmental and personal resources with the goal of achieving success. These learners thus generate their own environment for the purpose of their professionalization, as well as their personal and cognitive development. The processing of the descriptive, inferential and confirmatory results of the study led us to observe the evolution and variation of skills perception in engineering students over their five-year course. Temporal variability can be observed in perceptions, depending on the nature of the skills and on the phases of the course study marked by the temporal evolution of learning processes. These markers processes shed light on the dialogical relation found between educational science and sciences of perception.