Gardner, T. Q., & Kowalski, S. E., & Kowalski, F. V. (2012, June), Interactive Simulations Coupled with Real-time Formative Assessment to Enhance Student Learning   Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21583

\bibitem{asee_peer_21583}
  Gardner, T. Q., \& Kowalski, S. E., \& Kowalski, F. V. (2012, June), \emph{Interactive Simulations Coupled with Real-time Formative Assessment to Enhance Student Learning }
  Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas.
  10.18260/1-2--21583

Tracy Q. Gardner, Susan E. Kowalski, and Frank V. Kowalski.  "Interactive Simulations Coupled with Real-time Formative Assessment to Enhance Student Learning ".  2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2012.  https://peer.asee.org/21583 Internet.  24 Apr, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_21583}
  Tracy Q. Gardner, Susan E. Kowalski, and Frank V. Kowalski.
  "Interactive Simulations Coupled with Real-time Formative Assessment to Enhance Student Learning ".
  \emph{2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2012.
  https://peer.asee.org/21583 Internet.  24 Apr, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_21583
author = "Tracy Q. Gardner, Susan E. Kowalski, and Frank V. Kowalski"
title = "Interactive Simulations Coupled with Real-time Formative Assessment to Enhance Student Learning "
booktitle = "2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2012"
month = "June"
address = "San Antonio, Texas"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/21583}
number = {10.18260/1-2--21583}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                                                             Interactive Simulations Coupled with Real-Time            Formative Assessment to Enhance Student Learning  Abstract:Students’ understanding of key concepts in two core Chemical Engineering courses hasbeen assessed after implementing an innovative pedagogical method of couplinginteractive simulations with real-time formative assessment. With this method, studentsfirst independently explore available computer simulations (sims) that demonstrateimportant concepts and calculations. After this “free play” (i.e. without any instructorguidance) with the sims, students are quizzed on their fundamental understanding of thedemonstrated concepts, knowledge of assumptions made in the modeling, etc. Then thestudents play with the sims again in a guided manner, with scaffolded questions devisedby the instructor to help them better explore and analyze the sims. This scaffoldedquestioning takes place in class, dynamically directed based on immediate studentfeedback, with the use of pen-based mobile technology and InkSurvey – free, web-basedsoftware designed for real-time formative assessment. The instructor poses questions thataddress points students missed in their initial exploration of the sim. The “digital ink”answers to these questions can come in the form of equations, graphs, words, numbers,etc., as InkSurvey accepts free-form input. Based on the answers the students give, otherquestions leading the students to the most interesting points are posed. Questions probingincreasing depths of understanding are given as students work at their own pace, therebychallenging students at all levels simultaneously. Students play with the sims again whileanswering these guided questions (“guided play”). After the guided play, summativeassessment of student understanding allows learning gains before and after guided play tobe compared.This interactive mode encourages all students not only to participate in answering thequestions, but also in asking the instructor questions, as they can do so via InkSurveywithout identifying themselves. Additionally, during these exercises, students spend asignificant amount of time discussing with each other, which has proven to increasestudent learning and understanding of concepts. Tablet PC’s were used in this study, butthe pedagogical method and software infrastructure are sufficiently versatile that thismodel can be broadly used with other hardware such as slates, iPads, and even smartphones. Students participating in these activities were fully engaged and on taskthroughout the duration of class time. These guided sims explorations have been used 1)to elucidate and correct common misconceptions and, 2) to hone critical thinking skills incases where processes are being modeled using equations that do not apply.Results are presented of applying this pedagogical method in Fluid Mechanics andProcess Dynamics and Controls – two courses which students have historically foundchallenging because of difficulties in visualizing the connections between the calculationsand the physical processes. Examples of concepts explored in this manner and studentlearning gains (with statistical analysis) before and after the guided play are given.Actual student responses to questions such as “how do airplanes actually fly” and “dofirefighters have to push forward or pull back on fire hoses to keep them in place”, alongwith the common misconceptions of these concepts, are presented. Finally, otheradvantages of this pedagogical method are discussed.We would like to present this in a regular session.
AU  - Tracy Q. Gardner
AU  - Susan E. Kowalski
AU  - Frank V. Kowalski
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Interactive Simulations Coupled with Real-time Formative Assessment to Enhance Student Learning 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/21583
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21583
ER  -