2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Biothermodynamicsalong with other engineering courses that are filled with formulas and equations, are traditionally taught passively through lecturing and note-taking. So far, active learning methods have been studied vastly in engineering education, including adding group work and peer interaction into the teaching and learning of such courses, aiming at increasing student engagement [1-4]. This work-in-progress study explores the ability to create a “neighborhood” in a sophomore-level Biothermodynamics classroom. It uses a revised course design to further emphasize the interaction among students and teams. According to the course guidelines, besides the traditional teamwork and individual learning activities, as one can experience in an actual neighborhood setting, the interaction among neighbors (other teams) and the entire community (class) is also expected, including (a) visiting neighbors multiple times, a type of inter-team activity in which a team designs homework problems, assigns them to the team they are visiting and offers hints and evaluations; (b) gifting, a one-time visit near the end of the semester to a neighbor team with a journal article as a gift. A one-page review is expected as a return, and the two teams will meet to further discuss the interesting points learned from the paper; (c) block party, a final project (journal club, open discussion, research proposal, etc.) that can involve all teams to participate at the same time. Note that all events in the“neighborhood” are two-way activities, meaning that when a team is assigning questions and offering tutorials and hints to a neighbor's house, it is also receiving questions and support from a different neighbor. Eventually, in this newly formed community (classroom), the new residents (a new batch of students) will know all their neighbors (work with all their classmates at least once) and exchange ideas actively. This teaching method requires the instructor to carefully design the teaching materials and assessment logic, foster positive relationships with their students and teams, be conducive to learning, and meet students’ developmental, emotional, and academic needs. The quality of their work, including peer evaluation, needs to be carefully evaluated by the instructor as well. The teaching and learning experience is redefined in three domains: (a) the teaching domain, where the teaching team provides pure engineering knowledge and principles; (b) the learning domain, where all participants are actively thinking and discussing, challenging the basis of accepted ideas, and testing assumptions in biomedical applications; and (c) the social domain, where learners can function as an individual or a group in inter-group and whole-class activities that allow them to seek answers from, also offer support to, peers. The proposed study is to prove that new bonds and connections can be built in the classroom through discussion, inter-/intra-group work, and peer tutoring. We are currently focusing on analyzing students’ reflection responses for evidence of their developing active learning skills, in terms of the quality of self- and team assessment, the capability of interpreting textbook knowledge into engineering skills, and any impact from the variations of students’ academic, racial and ethnic backgrounds.