response was mixed, though primarily positive (Figure 2). Comments from the end-of-term course evaluations also reflected this dichotomy: • I don't like that you wanted us to struggle with the homework and waste our time. My time is precious. • I liked everything in the class except the fact [that] we did book homework before we learned it. • Homework, online homework, and lectures all went together nicely. • His set up of the homework/glossary/Sappling [sic] made sure you did the work first and had an understanding of the material before it was covered in lecture. • I think that I've learned more in this class in one semester than any other class I've taken here.The principal complaint about the course
situation that provoked their prediction. These situations are designed so that the predictions based upon the most common misconceptions fail to explain what is observed. Students are allowed and encouraged to “mess with” the experiment to verify that the surprising result isn’t a trick. Finally a series of follow-‐up and reflection questions encourages students to incorporate the new information into their existing understanding. Each activity is designed to take about 15 minutes and use materials found commonly in chemical engineering laboratories or available at Wal-‐Mart. These activities have been shown to improve students’ concept
Librarianship 36:158-165, 2010.7. Meyers, KL, SE Silliman, and NL Gedde, A comparison of engineering students’ reflections on their first-year experiences, Journal of Engineering Education 99:169-178, 2010.8. Angelique, H, K Kyle, and E Taylor, Mentor and muses: new strategies for academic success, Innovative Higher Education 26:195-209, 2002.9. Khazanov, L, Mentoring at-risk students in a remedial mathematics course, Math and Computer Education 45:106-118, 2011.10. Rodger, S, and PF Tremblay, The effects of a peer mentoring program on academic success among first year university students, Canadian Journal of Higher Education 33:1-18, 2003.11. Thorsheim, H, H LaCost, and JL Narum, Peer mentoring of undergraduate research in
r car fuel in an econo my car, or ddiesel fuel inn a gasolineengine. Commentary is provided to caution students about real world performance issuesassociated with certain parameter choices. The activities call for the student to first predict ideal engine performance under differentscenarios. Next, the students will use the simulator to explore the effects of changingparameters. Initial changes are specified in detail to acquaint students with the simulator, withsubsequent explorations requiring students to make decisions regarding how to determineanswers. Students utilizing the activity are frequently encouraged to look at additional optionsand scenarios according to their interests. Finally, students are asked to reflect on
homework, or extemporaneouslyanswers student questions in front of the entire section from the active minority who ask.Students seldom witness or encounter what to do if they are “stuck” and cannot see a clearsolution path. On the other hand, studios are designed to engage all students in the classroom.They are activity based where students spend the majority of the class time in action to answerconceptual questions, solve problems, explain phenomena from in class demonstrations, work onvirtual laboratories, etc. The GTAs or instructors interact with students in a facilitative modewhere they ask probing questions designed to enable the students to reflect on appropriateprocedures and concepts so that the students themselves can identify what to do
old curriculum. The transport operations I course (CM315) is thefirst chemical engineering course in transport (unit) operations in the new curriculum. It hasbeen slightly modified to reflect the different sequence of courses, but covers much of the samematerial as the older version (CM310). It can also provide a point of comparison for thecurriculum model, however it builds on content in EAS224 as well as EAS211.Introduction to Modeling of Engineering Systems (EAS211) includes students from allengineering majors: chemical, civil, computer, electrical, fire protection, mechanical and system.The depth of study of mass and energy balances is limited due to time considerations and issuesof relevance to the audience. Topics are chosen to be of
instructor wants to use more of the features available, instead of downloading questionsthey can integrate the use of clickers or have students log in and answer ConcepTests andinventories on their laptops or smart phones (either in-class or for homework). If instructorssolicit responses via laptops or smartphones, they can prompt short answer explanations andconfidence follow-ups in addition to the multiple choice answers. Such written reflection isperceived by students as helpful12 . These more involved features require students to interfacewith the site; the student interface is described in the next section.For faculty, the results from assignments are aggregated, tabulated and archived for later use.They are also downloadable in MS Excel format
two strengths he or she possesses and one or two aspects of teamwork or leadership where improvements could be made. These will be compiled with feedback from the other members of your team and distributed to the appropriate individual. • Once you have received the feedback from your team members, submit (1) a brief summary of the feedback, (2) an evaluation of your own performance (including a reflection on your goals from your previous team project), and (3) a statement of your plan of how you will improve your teamwork and leadership abilities in your next team experience.In the next team experience students focus on this plan that they previously
to time about translation and deafness in general.Perspective of the Deaf Student It’s a wonderful opportunity to be able to reflect on how it feels to be a Deafstudent in a regular “normal” classroom with a professor, fellow classmates andinterpreters. It is my first time to be in a classroom environment like this as myundergraduate degree is from a university for the Deaf. This new experience highlightednumerous obstacles, but at the same time, it has been a very valuable learning experience.I rely on interpreters every moment throughout the class in order to have full access toinformation taught by the professor. The interpreter hears the professor and thentranslates those spoken words to ASL, which is not necessarily English word
. Thispaper will also discuss a unified approach to connect engineering principles, regulatoryguidelines and written communication. This module fits well with the recent emphasis of ABETon safety in teaching labs. Several (although not all) safety guidelines are addressed in regulatorycompliance. The only prerequisite is that students have some knowledge of bio/chemical processtechnologies. Since RC is more of a practice than absolute science, assignments and testsdeveloped in this module to reflect the ‘practice’ component will be described in this paper. Page 25.1111.3The need for regulatory compliance instruction:Regulatory compliance is no longer
strategies being developed are broadly applicablewe will just present one instance, with the civil engineering cartridge, of the identification ofmisconceptions and experimental design for assessing the impact of the DLM on learning. Theassessment includes a pre- and post-test assessment to determine improvement in understandingbasic concepts and persistence and/or repair of misconceptions. Concrete Experience IntroductionHands on teaching methods have a long historyof use in science and engineering. Usually this is Active Experimentation Reflective Observationseen in the form of laboratory classes that eitheraccompany a lecture course to reinforce con-cepts and teach research skills
integrity.” • “I don't want this to turn into some kind of witch-hunt where I have to defend myself for even writing a similar sentence.”These comments reflect the views espoused in other literature on the use of Turnitin6. However,in the selected sample of ChE students, these views were in the minority as indicated by thesmall fraction (<10%) of negative responses from each class. It is suggested by the authors thatthe focus of this particular ChE department on ethics throughout the curriculum may inform themore tolerant nature of students’ views toward their instructor using plagiarism screeningsoftware. Similar views have also been described in other studies pertaining to non-engineeringstudents8, 9.A considerable fraction of students
bystudents taking this course. The majority of responses indicated the following commonchallenges: Was this an open-ended question or are there stats to indicate what % of peoplementioned each response? Any value in reflecting that, or OK to lump together under generalconcerns? Cheating (downloadable solutions) Student maturity/seriousness Problem-solving skills Mathematical Software Skills Physics, chemistry & math preparation Preference for familiar units Limited contact time Broad range of student ability
could be strengthened. Upon reflection, almost all curricular changessuggested and undertaken in the department, in regard to course enhancements, were recognizedto come from Part 1 of the instructor assessment (See Figure 1) rather than the numerical ratingsobtained from the student assessments or Part 2 of the instructor assessment. Part 1 is filled outby the instructor, where a portion of this form requires the instructor to identify strengths andweaknesses of the students based upon direct assessment. Requiring each instructor to evaluatethe performance of each course each semester generates a tremendous amount of ideas toimprove the curriculum in a manner that the numerical data, from either the instructor or thestudents, never does.The