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Use of Adaptive Questions and Electronic Pooling to Promote Mastery of Fundamental Thermal Science Concepts

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Conference

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Columbus, Ohio

Publication Date

June 24, 2017

Start Date

June 24, 2017

End Date

June 28, 2017

Conference Session

Software and Related Tools for Teaching and Course Efficiencies

Tagged Division

Mechanical Engineering

Page Count

22

DOI

10.18260/1-2--29064

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/29064

Download Count

675

Paper Authors

biography

Amir Karimi P.E. University of Texas, San Antonio

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Amir Karimi, University of Texas, San Antonio
Amir Karimi is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). He received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky in 1982. His teaching and research interests are in thermal sciences. He has served as the Chair of Mechanical Engineering (1987 to 1992 and September 1998 to January of 2003), College of Engineering Associate Dean of Academic Affairs (Jan. 2003-April 2006), and the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies (April 2006-September 2013). Dr. Karimi is a Fellow of ASEE, a Fellow of ASME, senior member of AIAA, and holds membership in ASHRAE, and Sigma Xi. He has served as the ASEE Campus Representative at UTSA, ASEE-GSW Section Campus Representative, and served as the Chair of ASEE Zone III (2005-07). He chaired the ASEE-GSW section during the 1996-97 academic year.

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biography

Randall D. Manteufel P.E. University of Texas, San Antonio

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Randall Manteufel is Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He teaches thermal-fluid courses.

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Abstract

Personal response system have been used in large classes which allows instructors to propose simple questions during a lecture and gain feedback on student understanding of the material. Electronic pooling of students is helpful in measuring the understanding of the fundamental concepts in challenging thermal science courses like thermodynamics, heat transfer and fluid mechanics. Focused true/false and multiple choice questions have been used to assess student understanding of the fundamental concepts. Because the feedback is comprehensive and nearly instantaneous, it has been found that adaptive questions are a good method to focus instruction in the areas of students’ difficulties. An effective practice is to rephrase and repeat questions at the end of a lecture or the start of the next lecture. The technique of adaptive questioning has evolved and has been found to be effective at addressing common persistent misunderstandings. Examples of the sequence of questions used are described. Student feedback shows the use of frequent and persistent questions which focus on fundamental concepts are effective at improving student mastery of fundamental concepts.

Karimi, A., & Manteufel, R. D. (2017, June), Use of Adaptive Questions and Electronic Pooling to Promote Mastery of Fundamental Thermal Science Concepts Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--29064

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