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Using Micromoments and Concept Maps to Enhance Entrepreneurially Minded Learning of Indoor Air Pollution Control

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Division (ENVIRON) Technical Session 3 - Innovative Pedagogy

Tagged Division

Environmental Engineering Division (ENVIRON)

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/48237

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Paper Authors

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Jean M. Andino Ph.D., P.E. Arizona State University

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Jean M. Andino is a faculty member in Chemical Engineering and Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU). She earned a Bachelor's degree in Engineering Sciences at Harvard University and a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. She is a registered Professional Engineer.

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Erick S. Vasquez-Guardado University of Dayton Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-4811-6155

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Erick S. Vasquez-Guardado (Erick S. Vasquez) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Dayton. Dr. Vasquez earned his B.Sc. degree in chemical engineering (ChE) at Universidad Centroamericana Jose Simeon Canas (UCA) in El Salvador, an M.S. in ChE at Clemson University, and a Ph.D. in ChE at Mississippi State University.

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Ricardo Gomez Gonzalez Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-6651-2015

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Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon. Dr Gomez-Gonzalez’s research interests include solid waste management, landfill siting, process simulation and optimization, and engineering education. He is an active member of the research group in Process Simulation and Control. Alongside his research endeavors, Dr Gomez-Gonzalez is an enthusiastic educator, teaching advanced courses on process simulation, process control, oil and gas processing, advanced math, and process optimization.

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Xiaojing Yuan University of Houston Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-9252-7552

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Dr. Xiaojing Yuan is a full professor at the University of Houston in the Engineering Technology Department of the Cullen College of Engineering. As the founding director of the Intelligent Sensor Grid and Informatics (ISGRIN) research lab, she has delivered numerous presentations and published over 90 technical articles. Her research interests lie at the intersection of sustainable technology and resilient systems, with a focus on creating AI-powered automation systems that ensure the sustainability and resilience of existing and new infrastructure, including energy, transportation, water and wastewater management, and buildings. I am also developing a modeling and simulation platform that provides what-if analysis using quantifiable sustainable life-cycle metrics as part of the performance evaluation when designing such automation systems. Another of her current research interest is STEM higher education, particularly in the engineering and technology areas. All data clearly show the fast-approaching cliff we all face, where's the "silver bullet?" What individual faculty can do -- with no time and ever-increasing tasks, functions, and paperwork! Can AI-powered assistants solve our problem -- or at least assist us along the way to find a better solution?

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Nilza D. Aples University of Technology, Jamaica Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-5647-6417

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A professional chemical and environmental engineer with over 35 years of combined experience in process design and project management in the petroleum industry and environmental consulting, Prof. Aples join the University of Technology, Jamaica in 1999. Since 1999, she has spearheaded the Waste Management & Laboratory Services Research Unit at UTech. She led the design team that developed and implemented the first bilingual chemical engineering undergraduate programme in Jamaica. Also collaborate in the development and implementation of the MPhil, PhD, and MSc programmes in engineering at UTech. She has supervised graduate students in the chemical engineering and pharmacist programmes. She also served as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & Computing and Head of School of Engineering.

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Abstract

Micromoments targeted toward indoor air quality were introduced to students in an Air Quality Engineering course to enhance their entrepreneurial mindset. Students generated concept maps pre-and post- micromoment intervention, and these maps were used to assess changes in students’ entrepreneurial mindset (EM). Core air quality engineering content (i.e., indoor air concentrations, material balances to describe the flow of pollutants in an indoor environment, air exchange rates, and health impacts of various pollutants) along with generalized information on the 3 Cs framework of EM (i.e., curiosity, connections, and creating value) were introduced to students. Before introducing the micromoments, students were asked to create digital concept maps (using the freely available CMap Tools software) to address the 3 Cs in relation to the theme of “sources, levels, and control of indoor air pollution”. Students were provided with the initial node as well as three branches from the node that each related to curiosity, connections, and creating value, and subsequently asked to finish creating the concept map with just the information that they had gathered from the basic class lectures, their personal experiences, and a Corsi Rosenthal cube (a do-it-yourself structure that has recently become popular as an inexpensive way to reduce indoor particle pollution) that was brought to class. The first concept maps were designated as the baseline concept maps. Subsequently, during class time, three micromoment activities, i.e., “Question Frenzy”, “Make It Relevant”, and “How Do We Make It Better?” that are linked, respectively, to the curiosity, connections, and creating value elements of EM were deployed in the class. Subsequent to the three micromoment activities, students were asked to return to their original concept map and adjust their maps, if they wished, in light of the three micromoment activities that they undertook. The digital concept maps were scored using the traditional scoring approach, and the scores were used to provide a quantitative assessment of whether EM-oriented micromoments enhanced students’ entrepreneurial mindset. A separate survey was also administered to the students to determine how (or if) the introduction of the micromoments impacted their understanding and concept mapping activities. Responses were provided on a Likert scale and in free response form. The Likert scale survey results indicated scores of at least 4.2 on a 5.0 scale, suggesting relatively strong agreement from students that the in-class micromoment activities did indeed increase their understanding of EM. Students’ opinions were reinforced when looking at the results of the concept map scoring for students (n=8) who submitted their maps. On average, a significant increase in average concept map scores from the baseline average score of 30 to the after-intervention maps average score of 99 was noticed, with much of the scoring increase attributed to an increase in the number of concepts, i.e., the parameter that correlates to the breadth of understanding. For two students who worked as a team and submitted their concept maps, a significant number of crosslinks were added in the updated concept maps, suggesting increased recognition of the connections between concepts. This result could lead to enhanced teamwork learning experiences using micromoments and concept maps. Overall, this study shows the value of using micromoments in an air quality engineering class and provides a quantitative framework that may be broadly applied across different engineering fields for enhancing and assessing students’ understanding of EM.

Andino, J. M., & Vasquez-Guardado, E. S., & Gomez Gonzalez, R., & Yuan, X., & Aples, N. D. (2024, June), Using Micromoments and Concept Maps to Enhance Entrepreneurially Minded Learning of Indoor Air Pollution Control Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48237

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