BOARD # 262: IUSE: Propagation of the Concept Warehouse – an Educational Technology Tool to Promote Concept Based Active Learning

Milo Koretsky; Brian P. Self; Christopher Papadopoulos; Michael J. Prince; Dominic J Dal Bello

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session I
Tagged Topics: Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 7
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/55624

Paper Authors

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Milo Koretsky Tufts University

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Milo Koretsky is the McDonnell Family Bridge Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and in the Department of Education at Tufts University. He is co-director of the Institute for Research on Learning and Instruction. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from UC San Diego and his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley,

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Brian P. Self California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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Brian Self obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech, and his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Utah. He worked in the Air Force Research Laboratories before teaching at the U.S. Air Force Academy for sev

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Christopher Papadopoulos University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus orcid.org/0000-0002-0259-7264

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Christopher Papadopoulos is Professor of Engineering Sciences and Materials at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez (UPRM). He earned B.S. degrees in Civil Engineering and in Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University (1993) and a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Cornell University (1999). Prior to UPRM, Papadopoulos served on the faculty in the Department of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

Papadopoulos has diverse interests in structural mechanics, sustainable construction materials (with emphasis in bamboo), engineering ethics, and engineering education. He is co-author of Lying by Approximation: The Truth about Finite Element Analysis. As part of the UPRM Sustainability Engineering initiative to develop a new bachelor’s degree and curricular sequence, Papadopoulos is PI of A New Paradigm for Sustainability Engineering: A Transdisciplinary, Learner-Centered, and Diversity-Focused Approach, funded by the NSF HSI program. He is also an active member of the Engineering for One Planet Network.

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Michael J. Prince Bucknell University

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Dr. Michael Prince is a professor of chemical engineering at Bucknell University and co-director of the National Effective Teaching Institute. His research examines a range of engineering education topics, including how to assess and repair student misco

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Dominic J Dal Bello Allan Hancock College orcid.org/0000-0001-8002-3226

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Dom Dal Bello is Professor of Engineering at Allan Hancock College (AHC), a California community college between UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. At AHC, he is Department Chair of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty Advisor of MESA (the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement Program), has served as Principal/Co-Principal Investigator of several National Science Foundation projects (S-STEM, LSAMP, IUSE). In ASEE, he is chair of the Two-Year College Division, and Vice-Chair/Community Colleges of the Pacific Southwest Section. He received the Outstanding Teaching Award for the ASEE/PSW Section in 2022.

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Abstract

Several reports suggest there is an urgent need to greatly increase both the number and diversity of students graduating in STEM fields over the next decade. They recommend switching to teaching methods backed by research, like concept-based active learning. This approach focuses on using activities to help students understand key concepts deeply, rather than just memorizing facts or algorithmically solving problems. Studies show that pedagogies like concept-based active learning boosts student engagement and achievement, helps retain students in their program of study, and narrows the performance gap for underrepresented groups. It is also crucial for solving real-world problems, especially in fields like engineering.

However, the main challenge isn’t proving that these methods work better than traditional teaching—it’s getting instructors to actually adopt them. This project aims to spread the use of the Concept Warehouse, a web-based tool for concept-based active learning, in Mechanical Engineering (ME) programs. The tool was originally developed for Chemical Engineering (ChE) and includes over 3,500 "ConcepTests," which are short questions designed to engage students and assess their understanding of concepts. The Concept Warehouse also contains concept inventories and more extensive instructional tools like inquiry-based activities and virtual laboratories.

The Concept Warehouse has grown significantly, now supporting over 1,700 faculty and 40,000 students. In the current phase of the project, new questions have been added for Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials, with totals of 354, 445, and 42 questions, respectively. A review process is underway to improve the clarity of these questions and identify areas where more questions are needed. Since June 30, 2018, 720 new faculty accounts have been created, and 3,466 students have answered these mechanics questions through the tool’s student interface while some instructors deliver the content through other mechanisms. The team is working on developing a new Rigid Body Dynamics Concept Inventory to expand the current capabilities of the Dynamics Concept Inventory and has also created several adaptive learning modules for mechanics and material science.

Our analysis has focused on both instructor and student learning. On the instructor side, we have investigated the impact of introducing the Concept Warehouse on instructors’ trajectories of practice, an innovative framework based on our theoretical model to understand the role of contexts (including their institutions, courses, students, personal history and pandemic-related adaptations) in their use of the tool’s multiple affordances. We also have studied students’ conceptual and metacognitive learning processes through analysis of written explanations and think-aloud interviews.

We delivered a three-day workshop to 22 two- and four- year university faculty members dedicated to concept-based active learning and the use of the Concept Warehouse. There was an overwhelming response from our call, with 179 applications completed. Twenty-one (21) out of 22 rated the summative question “Would you recommend this workshop to a colleague?” as “Strongly Recommend” and one (1) as “Recommend.” In the coming academic year, we will hold a virtual Community of Practice with faculty from the workshop to further use of concept-based instruction.

Citation
Format

Koretsky, M., & Self, B. P., & Papadopoulos, C., & Prince, M. J., & Dal Bello, D. J. (2025, June), BOARD # 262: IUSE: Propagation of the Concept Warehouse – an Educational Technology Tool to Promote Concept Based Active Learning Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/55624

TY - CPAPER
AB - Several reports suggest there is an urgent need to greatly increase both the number and diversity of students graduating in STEM fields over the next decade. They recommend switching to teaching methods backed by research, like concept-based active learning. This approach focuses on using activities to help students understand key concepts deeply, rather than just memorizing facts or algorithmically solving problems. Studies show that pedagogies like concept-based active learning boosts student engagement and achievement, helps retain students in their program of study, and narrows the performance gap for underrepresented groups. It is also crucial for solving real-world problems, especially in fields like engineering.

However, the main challenge isn’t proving that these methods work better than traditional teaching—it’s getting instructors to actually adopt them. This project aims to spread the use of the Concept Warehouse, a web-based tool for concept-based active learning, in Mechanical Engineering (ME) programs. The tool was originally developed for Chemical Engineering (ChE) and includes over 3,500 &quot;ConcepTests,&quot; which are short questions designed to engage students and assess their understanding of concepts. The Concept Warehouse also contains concept inventories and more extensive instructional tools like inquiry-based activities and virtual laboratories.

The Concept Warehouse has grown significantly, now supporting over 1,700 faculty and 40,000 students. In the current phase of the project, new questions have been added for Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials, with totals of 354, 445, and 42 questions, respectively. A review process is underway to improve the clarity of these questions and identify areas where more questions are needed. Since June 30, 2018, 720 new faculty accounts have been created, and 3,466 students have answered these mechanics questions through the tool’s student interface while some instructors deliver the content through other mechanisms. The team is working on developing a new Rigid Body Dynamics Concept Inventory to expand the current capabilities of the Dynamics Concept Inventory and has also created several adaptive learning modules for mechanics and material science.

Our analysis has focused on both instructor and student learning. On the instructor side, we have investigated the impact of introducing the Concept Warehouse on instructors’ trajectories of practice, an innovative framework based on our theoretical model to understand the role of contexts (including their institutions, courses, students, personal history and pandemic-related adaptations) in their use of the tool’s multiple affordances. We also have studied students’ conceptual and metacognitive learning processes through analysis of written explanations and think-aloud interviews.

We delivered a three-day workshop to 22 two- and four- year university faculty members dedicated to concept-based active learning and the use of the Concept Warehouse. There was an overwhelming response from our call, with 179 applications completed. Twenty-one (21) out of 22 rated the summative question “Would you recommend this workshop to a colleague?” as “Strongly Recommend” and one (1) as “Recommend.” In the coming academic year, we will hold a virtual Community of Practice with faculty from the workshop to further use of concept-based instruction.

AU - Milo Koretsky
AU - Brian P. Self
AU - Christopher Papadopoulos
AU - Michael J. Prince
AU - Dominic J Dal Bello
CY - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DA - 2025/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - BOARD # 262: IUSE: Propagation of the Concept Warehouse – an Educational Technology Tool to Promote Concept Based Active Learning
UR - https://peer.asee.org/55624
ER -