The Challenge
Mr Clive Hands has spent decades teaching Mechanical Engineering, and one of his biggest challenges throughout his career has been helping students keep up with demanding syllabi in increasingly shorter semesters.
For undergraduates, the most significant challenge tends to be having to grapple with difficult concepts while building confidence in course content in a short period of time. In addition to the difficulty and pressure students experience in this intense learning environment, many also arrive at university with limited practical experience.
As a result, they’re not only struggling to keep up with academics, but it also becomes difficult to simultaneously guide them through problem-solving exercises without overwhelming them completely.
Another challenge that has emerged in Clive’s experience as an educator has been among postgraduate students that he supports in an external design group. The group allows students to work alongside industry professionals in an environment in which expectations are higher than the classroom and projects are far more open-ended.
In this context, Mr Hands has found that students are struggling to bridge the gap between academic theory and real-world design project ideation and implementation.
In addition to the difficulties Mr. Hands has witnessed his students face over the years, he also has to grapple with his own enormous administrative workload. Thus, no matter how deep his desire to assist each and every student, he simply doesn’t have the capacity to do so to the extent he believes they require.
Using Mindjoy to Accelerate and Personalise Learning in NMU’s Mechanical Engineering Department
Clive Hands has woven Mindjoy’s AI tutor into his teaching practice as both a classroom aid and an around-the-clock study companion for students. By setting up tailored tutors for different modules and feeding them with tutorials, memos, and exercises, he’s created an environment in which students can learn, revise, and test their understanding at their own pace - even in the middle of the night and early hours of the morning, as students often do.
Mindjoy’s Socratic Mode has been particularly valuable in his efforts, guiding learners toward answers without simply handing them over, encouraging deeper thinking and continuous learning rather than removing the difficulty that is an intrinsic part of real learning.
In Clive’s external design group, he’s introduced Mindjoy as a type of virtual guide to assistant students as they develop and refine real-world mechanical engineering project ideas. The AI tutor has been used to help students interrogate the concepts behind their ideas, identify potential pitfalls, and develop potential solutions and strategies for their designs before presenting them to industry collaborators. It’s not doing the work for them, but it’s nudging them in the right direction and helping them get used to implementing academic knowledge and theory into real world applications.
Beyond the direct student experience, Clive has also relied on Mindjoy’s Insights feature to track comprehension levels across large classes and many students. He uses quick weekly checks instead of extensive assessments and tests, as they’re quicker for him to set up and far less tedious, stressful, and time consuming for students to do, given the already challenging academic environment.
The Impact
Clive Hands’ integration of Mindjoy into his Mechanical Engineering courses has significantly enhanced both his teaching experience and student outcomes. By providing 24/7 access to specialized AI tutors, students can learn, revise, and explore complex engineering concepts in their own time and at their own pace. This flexibility allows Clive to focus on higher-level discussions, creative problem-solving, and mentoring students on design projects, rather than fielding routine queries that require less of his attention.
Mindjoy’s Socratic mode encourages students to think critically, develop independent reasoning, and tackle problems in a structured way, helping them develop skills that are directly transferable to real-world engineering scenarios.
The platform’s Insights feature gives Clive detailed feedback on areas where students struggle, enabling him to adapt lessons and provide targeted support. This ensures students grasp fundamental principles before moving on to more complex challenges which, in the past, has been an arduous task, to say the least.
Students benefit from personalised learning pathways, immediate feedback, and the ability to test project ideas and identify potential pitfalls independently and in an environment in which they feel comfortable. These experiences help them develop proactive learning habits, enhance problem-solving skills, and build confidence in applying theoretical knowledge to practical situations.
Overall, Mindjoy has not only improved student engagement and comprehension but also equipped them with the critical thinking, project management, and analytical skills essential for success in modern engineering careers, while making Clive’s teaching more efficient and impactful.
