Strengthening Active Learning with a Reinforcement Approach in Engineering Education

Nowadays, the best methods of training specialists who are able to identify new challenges, make original decisions, and explore complex issues are associated with active learning. However, it is appears that the development of new values, proclaimed as the purpose of engineering education, is not so much the goal of the learners themselves as of the educators responsible for developing curricula and the academic environment. As for students, they perceive active learning as a variety of ways to achieve their own, narrower and more specific goals, namely the successful completion of the studied disciplines. In this context, the target of the current research is to propose and substantiate a reinforcement system aimed at attracting and supporting the interest of university students in active learning based on a set of updated methodological tools. The paper demonstrates how active learning is being transformed into reinforcement learning, and supports such an observation with examples from various educational activities, including lectures, quizzes, exercises, presentations, and laboratory works. It is expected that the proposed reinforcement approach will be in need of learners, faculty and industry in the near future ahead of the big challenges facing the global educational system.