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

华盛顿州立大学（WSU）的这个项目将通过帮助毕业生工程师将他们的知识应用于新设计的综合、评估设计方案和整合信息，来改善本科工程教育的学习。该项目将创建超低成本的桌面实验，工程专业的学生可以通过实验来学习流体力学和传热的基本原理。流体力学和传热是许多工程学科研究的工程科学领域，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研究成为可能，广泛地整合到流体力学和传热课程中。这些实验的目标成本与一本教科书相当，将使学生团队能够对流体和传热现象进行自己的研究。这个改进本科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。该项目将建立在早期美国国家科学基金会在华盛顿州立大学支持的工作基础上，该工作建立了与传统讲座和实验室相比，使用桌面实验的有效性。计划制作四种实验：文丘里喷嘴实验、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，学生可以在多个层面上分析，从一年级学生可以获得的简单相关性，到高级课程中复杂工程原理和工具的使用。小型桌面实验将能够在标准教室或类似的工作区域使用。为了实现成本和便携性目标，该项目将利用为制造而设计的技术，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。评估将综合定性和定量数据，评估研究对学生学习成果的直接效益。有关超低成本流体力学和传热实验效果的数据将作为项目的一部分收集和分析。概念理解将在布鲁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，基于芬克分类法的重要学习，以及将知识转移到新环境中的能力。这些超低成本的实验将为衡量理解差距和学生误解创造机会。

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.