2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Assess Before You Fix: Using a Concept Inventory to Identify Improvement Opportunities in a Mass and Energy Balances Course

Presented at Honoring the Legacy of Lisa Bullard: A View of the Present and Future

This paper discusses the use of an existing concept inventory to examine the effectiveness of pedagogical strategies and course content in a Mass and Energy Balances (M&EB) course within a traditional Chemical Engineering undergraduate program at Virginia Tech. M&EB is a foundational class for chemical engineering students, often regarded as the entry point to the major, and it serves as a prerequisite for many subsequent undergraduate courses in the discipline. Given its critical importance, the primary objective of this study was to assess whether the instructional methods and materials effectively promote the conceptual understanding necessary for success in the field.
The concept inventory was first administered to students toward the end of the Fall 2023 class. The results of this initial experience allowed the authors to make small adjustments to the instrument aimed at better representing the content covered in the course and removing ambiguity. The adjusted instrument was then administered in a pre/post manner to students in Spring 2024 and Fall 2024.

Preliminary results across all these terms indicated that students entered the class with an intermediate understanding of the subject matter, as reflected in their initial scores. As expected, misconceptions were common for concepts that are counterintuitive or deviate from students’ experiences in the physical world. Subsequent analysis of the 2024 data revealed statistically significant improvements in post-assessment scores, suggesting that students developed a more robust understanding of the concepts throughout the course.

The insights gained from administering the concept inventory can inform curricular development and instructional strategies. By identifying gaps in understanding and addressing them through evidence-based changes, educators can enhance the overall educational experience for students. Looking ahead, future work will focus on exploring further evidence-based changes to curriculum and pedagogy informed by the results of the concept inventory. This may involve investigating additional instructional methods, integrating active learning strategies, or enhancing collaborative learning opportunities within the classroom. By continuing to assess and refine the educational approach based on student performance and feedback, this research aims to contribute to the ongoing enhancement of chemical engineering education.

Authors

Dr. Juan David Ortega Álvarez http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6110-0791 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Juan David Ortega Álvarez is a Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech and a Courtesy Affiliate Professor at Universidad EAFIT. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University and an M.S. in Process Engineering and Energy Technology from Hochschule Bremerhaven. With over 10 years of experience teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, Juan also has more than 6 years of professional experience as a practicing engineer, primarily focused on the design and improvement of chemical processing plants. His research interests center on the scholarship of teaching and learning, collaborating with engineering faculty across disciplines to help assess and enhance their teaching practices.
Dr. Stephen M. Martin Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Dr. Martin received a B.S.E in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University in 1999. He then received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 2004 under the direction of Michael D. Ward. He pursued post-doctoral research in the Hatton group at MIT before joining the faculty of Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech in 2006. Dr. Martin’s research focuses on advanced materials and processes for separations, including water purification and carbon capture. The Martin group’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the ACS-Petroleum Research Fund, 3M, and the Office of Naval Research.

Dr. Martin has taught across the chemical engineering curriculum, including Mass & Energy Balances, Fluid Dynamics, and Mass Transfer. He has directed the Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory at Virginia Tech since 2007. He has been the recipient of multiple teaching awards, including the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and multiple Chemical Engineering Professor of the Year Awards (as voted by the undergraduate students.) He received the Sporn Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education in 2023 and the William E. Wine Award for Teaching Excellence in 2024. In 2022 he was named the W.S. "Pete" White Chaired Professor for Innovation in Engineering Education.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

« View session