Blackboard with BuffaloBadger's ToTaL Engineering written on it

ToTaL Engineering started out as a blog named ToTaL PS (Thoughts on Teaching and Learning Problem-Solving). This archive includes the posts from that blog.

Archived Posts from ToTaL PS

ToTaL PS, What’s it all about?

problem-solving
ToTaL PS is a blog I created to share my “Thoughts on Teaching and Learning Problem-Solving,” (ToTaL PS). “Problem-Solving” can have multiple meanings. Here the focus is…
Jun 5, 2023
BuffaloBadger

Book Review: How Learning Works

learning science
In 2013 I attended a conference on the future of engineering education. It brought together a number of engineering professors who were interested in improving the way…
Jun 19, 2023
BuffaloBadger

What is the Purpose of Homework?

homework
It’s been a long time since I was a student in an engineering problem-solving course. I do remember that I was assigned a lot of homework problems, but I don’t recall…
Jul 3, 2023
BuffaloBadger

Achievement Goals

homework
achievement goals
In this post, I’d like to build on the suggestion in my last post that the manner in which homework is presented can affect the way a student approaches completing the…
Jul 18, 2023
BuffaloBadger

Goal Structure

homework
achievement goals
goal structure
In my July 3, 2023 post I suggested that the manner in which homework is presented can affect the way a student approaches completing a problem-solving assignment. Then in…
Jul 31, 2023
BuffaloBadger

A Waste of Time

exam
evaluation
I don’t know if this is very widely practiced today, but I can remember problem-solving courses that I took where we were not provided with any equations on exams. We were…
Aug 14, 2023
BuffaloBadger

Practice Should be Practice

homework
practice
One of the seven research-based principles of “How Learning Works”1 states that “To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them and…
Aug 29, 2023
BuffaloBadger

Practice? Practice What?

homework
practice
OK, practice is an important aspect of learning, but in a problem-solving context, what needs to be practiced? To paraphrase one of the seven principles of learning1 in the…
Sep 11, 2023
BuffaloBadger

In-Class Practice

active learning
practice
In many ways, the ideal time and place for students to practice problem solving is during class. Many years ago I converted my problem-solving course to a flipped classroom…
Sep 25, 2023
BuffaloBadger

Last Post for 2023

This will be my last post for 2023. To put it succinctly, I’ve been presenting and organizing my posts by teaching topic, and instead, I want to use a chronological…
Nov 17, 2023
BuffaloBadger
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