Why Not Ask Students to Explain Themselves? Enhancing Conceptual Testing with Technical Writing

Matthew Cooper

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Conference: 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Seattle, Washington
Publication Date: June 14, 2015
Start Date: June 14, 2015
End Date: June 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-50180-1
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Chemical Engineering Division Poster Session
Tagged Division: Chemical Engineering
Page Count: 7
Page Numbers: 26.1739.1 - 26.1739.7
DOI: 10.18260/p.25075
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/25075
Download Count: 391

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Paper Authors

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Matthew Cooper North Carolina State University orcid.org/0000-0003-1060-4628

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Dr. Matthew Cooper is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University where he teaches Material and Energy Balances, Unit Operations, Transport Phenomena, and Mathematical / Computational Methods. He is the recipient of the 2014 NCSU Outstanding Teacher Award, 2014 ASEE Southeastern Section Outstanding New Teacher Award, and currently serves as the ASEE Chemical Engineering Division’s newsletter editor. Dr. Cooper’s research interests include effective teaching, conceptual and inductive learning, integrating writing and speaking into the curriculum, and professional ethics.

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Abstract

Enhancing Conceptual Testing with Technical WritingThis work describes written “Concept Quizzes” which aim to improve students’ understanding ofcritical engineering concepts while also developing skills in effective written technicalcommunication. The idea for this innovation arose from the exciting work currently beingperformed on concept-based instruction, in particular the efforts associated with the AIChEConcept Warehouse (AIChE-CW). The AIChE-CW provides chemical engineering educatorswith instruments which can effectively teach and evaluate engineering students’ conceptualunderstanding of course material. This is important because conceptual learning is not well-served by traditional engineering coursework, which often places greater focus on workingequations rather than actually understanding the material.In addition to the challenges facing engineering students to achieve conceptual understanding,many students also possess written communication skills below that expected by their anticipatedpositions in the workplace. It has been shown that writing assignments effectively facilitatelearning by forcing students to explore connections and patterns in the studied material. Thesebenefits are enhanced in fields such as engineering, since students are rarely assigned reflectivewriting tasks and thus have few opportunities to develop associated abilities. The writtenConcept Quizzes described here aim to combine the qualities of conceptual multiple-choicequestions as currently exist on the AIChE-CW with the benefits of assigning written coursework.An example of a written Concept Quiz prompt is given in Figure 1. The prompt asks astraightforward question which requires no calculations. The lion’s share of the assignment gradeinvolves correctly answering “why?” There are two key challenges for students when theyencounter these explanations: 1) Do I have the conceptual understanding required to answer the question? 2) Can I communicate this understanding to another person skilled in the art in a brief, cogent written statement?Combining these two challenges allows students to be evaluated on their conceptualunderstanding while also developing communication skills. Even those students who do notpossess requisite conceptual understanding receive the benefits of writing opportunities. Inpreliminary study, students have been observed to identify mistakes in their answers when theybegin trying to explain themselves; this self-critique would seem to represent learning at theupper levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Sample quiz questions as well as student performance andcomments indicating the effectiveness of written Concept Quizzes will be presented. Figure 1. Example Concept Quiz writing prompt.Request “Regular” ASEE Session

Citation
Format

Cooper, M. (2015, June), Why Not Ask Students to Explain Themselves? Enhancing Conceptual Testing with Technical Writing Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.25075

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -               Enhancing Conceptual Testing with Technical WritingThis work describes written “Concept Quizzes” which aim to improve students’ understanding ofcritical engineering concepts while also developing skills in effective written technicalcommunication. The idea for this innovation arose from the exciting work currently beingperformed on concept-based instruction, in particular the efforts associated with the AIChEConcept Warehouse (AIChE-CW). The AIChE-CW provides chemical engineering educatorswith instruments which can effectively teach and evaluate engineering students’ conceptualunderstanding of course material. This is important because conceptual learning is not well-served by traditional engineering coursework, which often places greater focus on workingequations rather than actually understanding the material.In addition to the challenges facing engineering students to achieve conceptual understanding,many students also possess written communication skills below that expected by their anticipatedpositions in the workplace. It has been shown that writing assignments effectively facilitatelearning by forcing students to explore connections and patterns in the studied material. Thesebenefits are enhanced in fields such as engineering, since students are rarely assigned reflectivewriting tasks and thus have few opportunities to develop associated abilities. The writtenConcept Quizzes described here aim to combine the qualities of conceptual multiple-choicequestions as currently exist on the AIChE-CW with the benefits of assigning written coursework.An example of a written Concept Quiz prompt is given in Figure 1. The prompt asks astraightforward question which requires no calculations. The lion’s share of the assignment gradeinvolves correctly answering “why?” There are two key challenges for students when theyencounter these explanations:   1) Do I have the conceptual understanding required to answer the question?   2) Can I communicate this understanding to another person skilled in the art in a brief,      cogent written statement?Combining these two challenges allows students to be evaluated on their conceptualunderstanding while also developing communication skills. Even those students who do notpossess requisite conceptual understanding receive the benefits of writing opportunities. Inpreliminary study, students have been observed to identify mistakes in their answers when theybegin trying to explain themselves; this self-critique would seem to represent learning at theupper levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Sample quiz questions as well as student performance andcomments indicating the effectiveness of written Concept Quizzes will be presented.                      Figure 1. Example Concept Quiz writing prompt.Request “Regular” ASEE Session
AU  - Matthew Cooper
CY  - Seattle, Washington
DA  - 2015/06/14
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Why Not Ask Students to Explain Themselves? Enhancing Conceptual Testing with Technical Writing
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/25075
DO  - 10.18260/p.25075
ER  -