Enhancing Student Engagement with a Small-Scale Car That Is Motion-Controlled through Chemical Kinetics and Basic Electronics

Abstract

A five day activity that involves the construction and characterization of a small car whose motion is controlled by the vitamin C clock reaction is presented. The purpose of the activity is to engage first-year Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students not majoring in the chemical sciences. Throughout the activity students learn and put into practice basic concepts of electronics and chemical kinetics, while testing four different types of electric power devices: galvanic cells, thermoelectrical cells, fuel cells, and solar panels. They also learn to analyze the vitamin C clock reaction with a simple kinetic model to calculate the time elapsed for a color transition from transparent to dark. A target-distance competition takes place on the last day of the activity.

Effects of a Thermal Inversion Experiment on STEM Students Learning and Application of Damped Harmonic Motion

“…The most recurrent sources of external information were videos (15) and websites (13). Other less common sources were textbooks ( 5) and scientific papers (3). Eight students reported looking for only one external source of information.…”

“…Students were offered extra credit if they decided to answer the questionnaire; all of these 26 students answered the six questions and we collected their answers before the module ended. Our students were in the first semester of diverse STEM majors at Tecnologico de Monterrey where they are required to partici-pate in challenges related to real-world issues as part of their professional competencies development [3,[62][63][64].…”

“…In a traditional learning environment, introductory physics curricula is usually designed with the laboratory at the core of the learning process. It becomes a place to learn theoretical concepts as well as to conduct experiments [2,3]. This methodology increases student engagement in physics courses and improves conceptual understanding through manipulation of instruments and materials [3,4] to generate and process experimental data [5].…”

“…It becomes a place to learn theoretical concepts as well as to conduct experiments [2,3]. This methodology increases student engagement in physics courses and improves conceptual understanding through manipulation of instruments and materials [3,4] to generate and process experimental data [5]. A well designed experiment may help STEM students develop self-regulated learning strategies [4,6,7], giving them the opportunity to build their own conclusions and boost their knowledge about physical phenomena and its interpretation [8].…”

Comparing Competency Assessment in Electronics Engineering Education with and without Industry Training Partner by Challenge-Based Learning Oriented to Sustainable Development Goals

“…In TEC, different examples of ODS have been shown on how to teach through problem-based learning the relationship between air pollution and the thermal inversion problem present in large cities in a physics course to teach modeling of damped harmonic motion experiments [27]. Similarly, there was a study of teaching by a method based on challenges, which included the activity of having students participate in a competition to build a small-scale car that has motion control through chemical kinetics and basic electronics to teach the use of clean energy in an efficient and affordable way to move a car [28]. Another example is the application of challenge-based learning in an e-learning course where students must propose a solution to solve a problem related to the SDGs [29].…”