Hands-On Modules for Use in a Chemistry of Materials Course

本提案的目的是完成伦斯勒所有工程师在材料化学课程中积极学习环境的开发。这一目标可以通过购置教学光学显微镜、台式拉伸机、微欧姆计、压力表、温度控制器、热电偶读数和调节器来实现。这个设备将使我们能够开展动手实验，我们将使用这些实验来教授材料化学课程所需的原理。《材料化学》课程采用互动式教学模式，每班4名学生组成15个小组。每周两个2小时的互动课程被分成几个模块。每个模块都以教师提出的概念/原理开始。该演示采用讲师的迷你讲座或演示的形式，可以是“实时的”或计算机生成的，也可以是两者的结合。然后给学生们一个“团队问题”，举例说明刚刚涵盖的原则，或者提供一个实际应用原则的实践经验。问题或实践练习需要作为一个团队完成，每个成员负责教他/她团队中的其他人，或向其他人学习。在两个小时的课程中，将涵盖其中的两个或三个模块。本课程在多媒体教室中教授，有一台计算机可供四名学生组成的教学小组使用，并且能够将计算机上的信息投射到屏幕上。计算机被用来访问万维网（WWW），运行多媒体软件，并解决简单的问题。

The purpose of this proposal is to complete the development of an active learning environment in the Chemistry of Materials course taken by all engineers at Rensselaer. This goal can be accomplished by the acquisition of a teaching optical microscope, table-top tensile machines, micro ohmmeters, pressure gages, temperature controllers, thermocouple readouts, and regulators. This equipment will enable us to develop hands-on experiments which we will use to teach the principles necessary for the Chemistry of Materials course. The Chemistry of Materials course is being taught in an interactive format with 15 teams of four students per class. The two 2-hour interactive sessions per week are broken up into modules. Each module begins with the presentation of a concept / principle by the faculty member. This presentation takes the form of a mini lecture by the instructor, or a demonstration, either "real time" or computer generated, or some combination of the two. Students are then given either a "team problem" exemplifying the principle just covered or a hands-on experience that provides a practical application of the principle. The problems or hands-on exercises are to be completed as a team with each member responsible for teaching to, or learning from the others on his/her team. In a two-hour session, two or three of these modules are covered. The course is taught in a multimedia room with a computer available to teach team of four students and the ability to project information from the computer onto a screen. The computers are used to access the World Wide Web (WWW), run multimedia software, and solve simple problems.