Using Inquiry-Based Activities to Promote Understanding of Critical Engineering Concepts

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This proof of concept project is developing inquiry-based educational materials to promote understanding of critical engineering concepts. The effectiveness of this approach has been extensively documented using thousands of undergraduate physics students. As of yet, however, inquiry-based activities have not been systematically developed for engineering education. This project seeks to fill that gap. In this proof of concept phase, the work is targeting two student misconceptions related to heat transfer and thermodynamics. The specific concepts being addressed are (1) the relationship among temperature, heat and energy and (2) entropy. Educational materials to address student misconceptions in these areas are being developed and will be refined through two years of testing with chemical engineering students at Bucknell University. The final educational materials will include an instruction manual with inquiry based activities, supplementary instructional aids and reliable assessment tools. The effectiveness of the prototype materials will be assessed using concept inventories developed through previous NSF funding (DUE 0127806). If the prototype educational materials developed for the two targeted engineering concepts prove effective, future work will expand the development, assessment and dissemination of similar modules designed to address a broader range of critical engineering concepts.