2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing fallout have increased the need for learning spaces that can support learning through alternate pedagogies and assessment strategies. An example is self-generated stories in which students develop their own story related to instructional content. Stories, along with informal assessments, support learning while providing a lower stake learning space. Moreover, strategies such as peer assessment within these alternate spaces can increase student involvement and interest in the instructional content.
The integration of informal peer assessments provides additional opportunities for students to engage with academic content vicariously and to learn from their peers’ stories. The informal assessment process lowers the stakes, focuses on students’ learning as reflected in each story’s narrative, and encourages participation and creativity.
This paper describes the ongoing implementation, effectiveness, and pedagogical value of student-generated stories in a fluid mechanics course part of the mechanical engineering technology curriculum. This application, which addressed Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)’s Criterion 3 and Criterion 5c, was implemented in a four-credit hour (ch) senior-level applied fluid mechanics course, with a 3ch lecture and 1ch laboratory component. The course is the second in fluid mechanics’ sequence and covers topics like pipeline systems design, pump selection, flow of air in ducts, lift and drag, etc. The original instructional design used a blend of traditional in-class lectures and problem-based learning focused on project-based and other laboratory exercises.