Developing problem solving skills using student-generated problems that reverse engineer YouTube videos

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Engaging students to be prepared to face real-world, complex problem solving requires educational innovation beyond lecturing and textbooks. In fact, developing complex problem solving skills may be the most important skill to thrive in the future workforce. This project aims to support students' complex problem solving skills by developing and implementing a strategy where students reverse engineer online videos, e.g., from YouTube, in order to produce student-created problem sets ("video problems"). The combination of student-created videos and textual information to produce "video problems" will serve to engage multiple senses and better meet students' problem solving developmental needs. Multi-sensory activities have been shown to improve learning, so this study is grounded in existing learning theories and knowledge. During this research project, problem solving skills will be examined by assessing students' ability to create video problems as well as students' ability to solve these problems. Such a framework, in facilitating students to self-create relevant "video problems," has the potential to inform many STEM classrooms and subjects. Educators will have access to a simple, versatile method and resources to engage students, improve problem solving skills, and translate these critical skills into the workforce.More specifically, the context for this study will be a material and energy balances course at the University of Toledo. This course is a foundational chemical engineering course that is widely taught in many engineering programs, thus having potential for the materials to have wide applicability. Engineering students will be educated in problem solving that bridges knowledge across domains in the context of real world applications and limitations. By thinking critically about how engineering concepts can be applied to real world scenarios in the videos (e.g. what chemical reactions occur when crayons are made), students will create novel and engaging problems. The project will examine the quality of problem solving skills when writing new problems as well as the difficulty and methods for solving "video problems." A series of research questions will investigate the extent to which student-generated "video problems" promote better problem-solving skills in contrast to traditional textbook problems. The effectiveness and rigor of "video problems" will be measured in several ways, including (a) analyzing students' problem solving processes using holistic and analytical rubrics, (b) using a task load index to quantify rigor, and (c) administering surveys to gain insight about students' perceptions of problem solving ability and their motivation. Deliverables of this project will involve (a) a large set of practical and real-world "video problems" that will be made available online for accessibility to other educators, (b) faculty workshops to disseminate research findings and resources, as well as (c) publications and meeting presentations to share project outcomes more widely. There is also potential based on previous findings that this project would better engage students typically underrepresented in engineering.