Affordable Desktop Learning Modules (DLMs) to Facilitate Transformation of Undergraduate Engineering Classes

这个项目在华盛顿州立大学（WSU）将提高本科工程教育的学习，帮助毕业的工程师，能够应用他们的知识在新设计的合成，评估设计方案，并整合信息。 该项目将创建超低成本的桌面实验，工程专业的学生可以进行调查，学习流体力学和传热的基本原理。 流体力学和传热是工程科学的领域，在许多工程学科中进行研究，包括航空航天，生物医学，化学，土木，环境和机械工程。实验的超低成本将使参与调查成为可能，在整个流体力学和传热课程中广泛整合。 这些实验的目标成本与教科书相当，使学生团队能够对流体和传热现象进行自己的研究。 这个改善本科生STEM教育（IUSE）项目将产生一系列简单，廉价，易于使用的实验和配套材料，涵盖流体流动和传热的基本方面。这个项目将建立在早期NSF支持的工作在华盛顿州立大学，建立了使用桌面实验的有效性相比，传统的讲座和实验室。 四个实验计划制造：文丘里喷嘴，管流实验，同心管换热器，和管壳式换热器。选择的实验模拟实际的工业设备，学生可以在多个层次上进行分析，从一年级学生可以访问的简单相关性，到高级课程中复杂的工程原理和工具的使用。小型桌面实验将能够用于标准教室或类似的工作区域。为了实现成本和便携性目标，该项目将利用设计制造技术，并利用新的制造模式，如通过3D打印和真空成型的快速原型制作。评估将综合定性和定量数据，评估关于学生学习成果的研究的直接效益。作为该项目的一部分，将收集和分析有关超低成本流体力学和传热实验功效的数据。概念理解将在布卢姆分类法的几个层次上进行测量。 此外，还将衡量批判性思维的改善，基于Fink分类法的重要学习，以及将知识转移到新的情况。 这些超低成本的实验将创造机会来衡量理解和学生误解的差距。

This project at Washington State University (WSU) will improve learning in undergraduate engineering education by helping to graduate engineers that are capable of applying their knowledge in synthesis of new designs, evaluating design alternatives, and integrating information. The project will create ultra-low-cost desktop experiments with which engineering students can conduct investigations to learn fundamental principles of fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Fluid mechanics and heat transfer are areas of engineering science that are studied in many engineering disciplines including aerospace, biomedical, chemical, civil, environmental, and mechanical engineering. The ultra-low-cost of the experiments will make it possible for engaging investigations to be integrated widely throughout fluid mechanics and heat transfer courses. With a target cost comparable to a textbook, these experiments will make it possible for teams of students to pursue their own investigations of fluids and heat transfer phenomenon. This Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) project will result in an array of simple, inexpensive, easy to use experiments and companion materials that cover fundamental aspects of fluid flow and heat transfer.This project will build on earlier NSF-supported work at Washington State University which established the effectiveness of the use of desktop experiments compared to traditional lectures and laboratories. Four experiments are planned for manufacture: a venturi nozzle, a pipe flow experiment, a concentric tube heat exchanger, and a shell and tube heat exchanger. The experiments chosen model actual industrial equipment that students can analyze at multiple levels from simple correlations accessible to first year students, to the use of sophisticated engineering principles and tools in advanced course work. The small desk-top experiments will be able to be used in standard classrooms or comparable work areas. To achieve cost and portability targets, the project will utilize design for manufacture techniques and take advantage of new manufacturing modalities such as rapid prototyping through 3-D printing and vacuum forming. Evaluation will assess the direct benefits of the research on student learning outcomes, integrating both qualitative and quantitative data. Data concerning the efficacy of the ultra-low-cost fluid mechanics and heat transfer experiments will be collected and analyzed as part of the project. Conceptual understanding will be measured at several levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Also measured will be improvements in critical thinking, significant learning based on Fink's taxonomy, and transfer of knowledge to novel situations. These ultra-low-cost experiments will create opportunities to measure gaps in understanding and student misconceptions.