Bulletin of the American Physical Society
66th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics
Volume 58, Number 18
Sunday–Tuesday, November 24–26, 2013; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Session R35: Education and Career Outreach: Teaching Methods |
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Chair: Shanon Reckinger, Fairfield University Room: 406 |
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 1:05PM - 1:18PM |
R35.00001: Flippin' Fluid Mechanics -- Using Online Technology to Enhance the In-Class Learning Experience D.R. Webster, D.M. Majerich This study provides an empirical analysis of using online technologies and team problem solving sessions to shift an undergraduate fluid mechanics course from a traditional lecture format to a collaborative learning environment. Students were from two consecutive semesters of the same course taught by the same professor. One group used online technologies and solved problems in class and the other did not. Out of class, the treatment group watched 72 short (11 minutes, average) video lectures covering course topics and example problems being solved. Three times a week students worked in teams of two to solve problems on desktop whiteboard tablets while the instructor and graduate assistants provided ``just-in-time'' tutoring. The number of team problems assigned during the semester exceeded 100. Weekly online homework was assigned to reinforce topics. The WileyPlus online system generated unique problem parameters for each student. The control group received three-50 minute weekly lectures. Data include three midterms and a final exam. Regression results indicate that controlling for all of the entered variables, for every one more problem solving session the student attended, the final grade was raised by 0.327 points. Thus, if a student participated in all 25 of the team problem solving sessions, the final grade would have been 8.2 points higher, a difference of nearly a grade. Using online technologies and teamwork appeared to result in improved achievement, but more research is needed to support these findings. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 1:18PM - 1:31PM |
R35.00002: Teaching an Undergraduate Course on Computational Fluid Dynamics Reza H. Sheikhi A new computational fluid dynamics (CFD) course is introduced to Mechanical Engineering undergraduate curriculum at Northeastern University. The main objective is to enable students to make use of CFD in their cooperative-education work, senior capstone project as well as future engineering career. CFD has become an indispensable tool for engineering design \& analysis, and it is now available to broad range of users, through commercial software packages. Proper use of these softwares, however, requires basic knowledge of CFD to understand their capabilities and limitations, to be aware of the pitfalls and to interpret the predictions. The course is designed to offer a balanced coverage of essential and applied CFD, with particular emphasis on verification \& validation and CFD analysis. Training for a commercial CFD package is an integral part of the course which is facilitated by the use of project-based learning. In this presentation, details of development and implementation of this course will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 1:31PM - 1:44PM |
R35.00003: ABSTRACT WITHDRAWN |
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 1:44PM - 1:57PM |
R35.00004: Enhancing Student International Awareness and Global Competency through Compact International Experience Courses Frank Jacobitz, Thomas Schubert Short-term, study-abroad, elective engineering courses were developed in order to raise the international awareness and global competency of engineering students. These Compact International Experience (CIE) courses were taught in response to a strong student desire for engineering study abroad courses and an effort by the home institution to internationalize its curriculum. An assessment of repeat offerings of two three-semester-unit courses on Topics in Fluid Mechanics and Advanced Electronic Circuit Design in a three-week time frame in France and Australia was performed. The goals of the two CIE courses are an effective teaching of their respective technical content as well as a student understanding of the cultural environment and the impact of engineering solutions from a global and societal viewpoint. In the repeat offerings, increased interaction with local industry was an additional goal. The CIE courses were assessed through surveys completed at the beginning and end of the courses, weekly student reflection papers, course evaluations, and formalized instructor observations. Based on the assessment performed, the two CIE courses have been found to be a valuable approach in the delivery of engineering technical electives combined with an international experience. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 1:57PM - 2:10PM |
R35.00005: Undergraduate ROV Outreach Kip Hacking, Randy Hurd, Geoff Wright, Tadd Truscott Grumpy smelly, and apathy stricken middle school students often find science to be ``uncool'' and ``hands-off.'' We are changing this in our local area through an outreach program at ten participating middle schools building underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROV). Participants (300) were mentored by undergraduates (70) from BYU and instructed on various STEM topics including: electrical circuits, buoyancy, material science, design, and simple robotics. Through weekly visits these undergraduates provided teachers with immediate personal support to start their local ROV program, and enhanced their engineering curriculum at the middle school level. Each undergraduate also designed and built an instrument in an on-campus instrumentation class that were compatible with the younger student's ROVs. Designs, videos and building instructions were posted online for current and future student access. This project culminated in a timed competition where students from each school used their ROVs to collect dive rings and maneuver through an underwater obstacle course. In this talk we will discuss how to increase your own outreach efforts by connecting undergraduates with local K-12 students using inexpensive ROVs and instrumentation projects. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 2:10PM - 2:23PM |
R35.00006: Ocean Circulation in a Rotating Tank - An Outreach Project in Fluid Dynamics Shanon Reckinger A rotating water tank was designed and built by two senior mechanical engineering undergraduates at Fairfield University. The project was part of a year long senior design course. The rotating water tank is used to simulate oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon for classroom or outreach use. The following year, the tank was used for outreach as part of Fairfield University's Broadening Access to Science Education (BASE) camp. BASE camp is a two week residential camp for high school woman interested in scientific research. It is designed to inform and excite students by giving them a hands-on, research-based experience in the sciences, engineering, and mathematics. An all female research team composed of one mechanical engineering faculty member, two engineering undergraduates, and three high school students used the tank to explore ``how the ocean moves.'' This talk will explain the design project and the outreach project in detail, in hopes of inspiring new fluids education and outreach ideas. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 2:23PM - 2:36PM |
R35.00007: Applying the results of education research to help students learn more: peer instruction and clicker questions in upper-division courses Rachel E. Pepper, Stephanie Chasteen, Steven Pollock, Katherine Perkins Over the past 7 years, the physics faculty at the University of Colorado have worked to transform four upper-division courses: Classical Mechanics/Math Methods, Electricity and Magnetism (E\&M) I and II, and Quantum Mechanics. We discuss our transformations as a model for other upper-division courses, such as fluid mechanics, focusing on one of the changes made in the transformation effort: the addition of peer instruction (``clicker questions'') to lecture. The goals of our course transformation were to improve student learning and to develop materials and approaches that other faculty could easily adopt or adapt. In this talk, we review the evidence for effectiveness of peer instruction, discuss our implementation, and present evidence of improved student learning in our transformed upper division courses. Tips for effective use of peer instruction and banks of clicker questions available for fluid mechanics will also be discussed. Our curriculum materials are free and available at www.colorado.edu/sei/departments/physics.htm. [Preview Abstract] |
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