Teaching Energy Concepts Using Chain Reaction Machines

Shakira Renee McCall; Randi Michelle Taylor; Odesma Onika Dalrymple; Shawn S. Jordan

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Conference: 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Publication Date: June 15, 2014
Start Date: June 15, 2014
End Date: June 18, 2014
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: K-12 and Pre-college Engineering Curriculum and Programming Resources, Part 1 of 2
Tagged Division: K-12 & Pre-College Engineering
Page Count: 10
Page Numbers: 24.1161.1 - 24.1161.10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--23094
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/23094
Download Count: 461

Paper Authors

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Shakira Renee McCall Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus

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Shakira McCall is a graduating Master's of Science student in Engineering at Arizona State University. She is also a recent recipient of the IGERT-SUN Traineeship funded by the National Science Foundation. Her PhD work will be continued in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment beginning Fall 2014.

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Randi Michelle Taylor Arizona State University

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Randi Taylor is and undergraduate engineering student at Arizona State University focusing on mechanical systems. She also holds a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics from Rice University in Houston Texas.

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Odesma Onika Dalrymple Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus

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Dr. Odesma Dalrymple is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Engineering and Computing Systems at Arizona State University. She conducts research on tools and techniques that can be readily applied in real engineering learning environments to improve student learning and teaching. In this respect her two prominent research contributions are with: 1) artefact-inspired discovery–based pedagogy, i.e., learning activities where students’ exploration of STEM knowledge is self-directed and motivated by interactions or manipulations of artefacts; and 2) the development of faculty expertise in outcomes-based course design through the use of the Instructional Module Development (IMOD) system, a self-guided web-based training tool.

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Shawn S. Jordan Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus orcid.org/0000-0002-1639-779X

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Shawn Jordan, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering at Arizona State University. He is the PI on three NSF-funded projects: CAREER: Engineering Design Across Navajo Culture, Community, and Society (EEC 1351728), Might Young Makers be the Engineers of the Future? (EEC 1329321), and Broadening the Reach of Engineering through Community Engagement (BRECE) (DUE 1259356). He is also Co-PI on one NSF-funded project: Should Makers be the Engineers of the Future? (EEC 1232772), and is senior personnel on an NSF-funded grant entitled Workshop: I-Corps for Learning (i-Corps-L). He received his Ph.D. in Engineering Education (2010) and M.S./B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University, and as a qualitative researcher studies both STEM and informal engineering education. As an educator, he founded and led a team to two collegiate National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest championships, and has co-developed the STEAM Machines™ / “Rube Goldbergineering” program over the past 6 years to expose middle and high school students to the engineering design process.

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Abstract

Teaching Energy Concepts using Chain Reaction Machines K-‐12 and Pre-‐College Engineering Division | Research-‐to-‐practice studies The STEAM Machines™ and STEAM Machines and Career Exploration ™ programs challenge teams of middle and high school-‐aged students to learn and apply the engineering design process to build Rube Goldberg style chain reaction machines. These summer camp programs teach students real-‐world engineering skills, provide experience with systems thinking and multi-‐team collaboration, integrate arts and STEM, and create a pathway for students to better understand careers in engineering and other science, technology and math fields. For the Summer 2013 implementations of these summer camp programs, new content modules on energy and anaerobic digestion were integrated into the curriculum and introduced at three high school sites, i.e., two in Arizona and one in Trinidad and Tobago. A total of 65 students ranging from ages 13 to 18 participated in the experience. With the addition of the energy content and related activities students learned to: • Identify the different states and forms of energy • Describe the Law of Conservation of Energy • Describe the difference between renewable and non-‐renewable sources of energy • Describe things that can be done on a national and individual level to use energy sustainably • Design chain reaction machines with constraints related to forms of energy • Describe the process of anaerobic digestion • Describe how biogas is created and its applications • Create biogas and use the resulting energy to power a step in a chain reaction machine Although the energy and anaerobic digester modules were designed to align with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the presented concepts were covered in greater depth than what is specified in the standards. Using a combination of interactive presentations and hands-‐on activities, the modules appealed to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. This paper presents: a) detailed account of the design of the energy and anaerobic digestion module; b) the learning outcomes based on the analysis of related pre-‐ and post-‐assessments, and mid-‐ and end-‐of-‐camp surveys; and c) descriptions of the ways students applied this learned knowledge in the design and development of their chain reaction machines. The paper concludes with a discussion on how this experience can be adapted for inclusion in formal in-‐class science courses at the high-‐school level.

Citation
Format

McCall, S. R., & Taylor, R. M., & Dalrymple, O. O., & Jordan, S. S. (2014, June), Teaching Energy Concepts Using Chain Reaction Machines Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--23094

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Teaching  Energy  Concepts  using  Chain  Reaction  Machines    K-‐12  and  Pre-‐College  Engineering  Division  |  Research-‐to-‐practice  studies  The  STEAM  Machines™  and  STEAM  Machines  and  Career  Exploration  ™  programs  challenge  teams  of  middle  and  high  school-‐aged  students  to  learn  and  apply  the  engineering  design  process  to  build  Rube  Goldberg  style  chain  reaction  machines.  These  summer  camp  programs  teach  students  real-‐world  engineering  skills,  provide  experience  with  systems  thinking  and  multi-‐team  collaboration,  integrate  arts  and  STEM,  and  create  a  pathway  for  students  to  better  understand  careers  in  engineering  and  other  science,  technology  and  math  fields.    For  the  Summer  2013  implementations  of  these  summer  camp  programs,  new  content  modules  on  energy  and  anaerobic  digestion  were  integrated  into  the  curriculum  and  introduced  at  three  high  school  sites,  i.e.,  two  in  Arizona  and  one  in  Trinidad  and  Tobago.  A  total  of  65  students  ranging  from  ages  13  to  18  participated  in  the  experience.  With  the  addition  of  the  energy  content  and  related  activities  students  learned  to:         • Identify  the  different  states  and  forms  of  energy           • Describe  the  Law  of  Conservation  of  Energy           • Describe  the  difference  between  renewable  and  non-‐renewable  sources  of               energy           • Describe  things  that  can  be  done  on  a  national  and  individual  level  to  use    energy             sustainably           • Design  chain  reaction  machines  with  constraints  related  to  forms  of  energy         • Describe  the  process  of  anaerobic  digestion         • Describe  how  biogas  is  created  and  its  applications         • Create  biogas  and  use  the  resulting  energy  to  power  a  step  in  a  chain  reaction             machine  Although  the  energy  and  anaerobic  digester  modules  were  designed  to  align  with  the  Next  Generation  Science  Standards  (NGSS),  the  presented  concepts  were  covered  in  greater  depth  than  what  is  specified  in  the  standards.  Using  a  combination  of  interactive  presentations  and  hands-‐on  activities,  the  modules  appealed  to  visual,  auditory,  and  kinesthetic  learning  styles.  This  paper  presents:  a)  detailed  account  of  the  design  of  the  energy  and  anaerobic  digestion  module;  b)  the  learning  outcomes  based  on  the  analysis  of  related  pre-‐  and  post-‐assessments,  and  mid-‐  and  end-‐of-‐camp  surveys;  and  c)  descriptions  of  the  ways  students  applied  this  learned  knowledge  in  the  design  and  development  of  their  chain  reaction  machines.  The  paper  concludes  with  a  discussion  on  how  this  experience  can  be  adapted  for  inclusion  in  formal  in-‐class  science  courses  at  the  high-‐school  level.    
AU  - Shakira Renee McCall
AU  - Randi Michelle Taylor
AU  - Odesma Onika Dalrymple
AU  - Shawn S. Jordan
CY  - Indianapolis, Indiana
DA  - 2014/06/15
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Teaching Energy Concepts Using Chain Reaction Machines 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/23094
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--23094
ER  -