Important student misconceptions in mechanics and thermal science: Identification using Model-Eliciting Activities

Abstract

-As any engineering faculty member teaching undergraduates knows, students possess a wide variety of misconceptions about fundamental engineering concepts. In the thermal sciences, there are numerous misconceptions about heat, energy, and temperature; mechanics students hold misconceptions about inertia, angular velocity, and energy. This is complicated by the fact that we possess many years of everyday experiences with energy flows, forces, and kinematics. Due to previous experiences, it is often difficult to repair these misconceptions -simple classroom lecturing often fails to instill correct conceptual knowledge. In order to provide real-world context, we are developing Model-Eliciting Activities (MEAs) to help repair misconceptions in dynamics and the thermal sciences. An MEA is a clientdriven problem that requires student teams to develop an engineering model or procedure. This approach creates an environment where students value abilities beyond using the traditional prescribed equations and models. During this process, we hypothesize that rich discussion and model re-formulation will help students recognize and repair misconceptions, and that the real world context will help them remember these critical concepts.Index Terms -Misconceptions, model-eliciting activities, thermal sciences, mechanics. CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN ENGINEERINGIf a large SUV hits a motorcycle, doesn't it make sense that the SUV exerts more force on the motorcycle than the motorcycle exerts on SUV? If a wooden spoon feels warmer than a metal spoon, does that mean it is at a higher temperature? These examples illustrate how everyday experiences help to form our conceptual (mis)understanding of science and engineering.Although engineering professors are often successful in teaching students how to choose and apply an appropriate equation, we are typically less successful at producing true conceptual understanding in our students. The problem is widespread through STEM disciplines, with nearly 7700 reported studies of student misconception in the literature [1]. Prior research by Streveler, Miller, and Olds in engineering student misconceptions of thermal science topics shows that seniorlevel chemical and mechanical engineering students retain a significant number of robust misconceptions even after completing courses in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and thermodynamics [2]. Over 40% consistently cannot distinguish between the rate and amount of heat transfer between two bodies at different temperatures and approximately 50% cannot distinguish between the quantity and quality of energy as described by the second law of thermodynamics. Nearly 30% cannot logically distinguish between temperature and energy in simple engineering systems and processes. Clearly, we need to continue to develop reliable and valid methods for both identifying and repairing important misconceptions.Two challenges must be met to promote deep conceptual learning in the face of misconceptions. The first is to identify prevalent and robust student misco...

Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Understanding of Heat, Temperature, and Energy: An Examination by Gender and Major

“…Students in college level science (Jasien & Oberem, 2002) and engineering programs (Miller et al, 2006;Prince & Vigeant, 2006;Self et al, 2008) had been found to hold multiple misconceptions about heat, temperature, and energy. For example, Prince and Vigeant (2006) found that many engineering undergraduates viewed heat and temperature as equivalent entities while Self et al (2008) determined that almost 30% of chemical and mechanical engineering seniors could not understand "… Logically distinguish between temperature and energy in simple engineering systems and processes" (p. S2G-1).…”

“…For example, Prince and Vigeant (2006) found that many engineering undergraduates viewed heat and temperature as equivalent entities while Self et al (2008) determined that almost 30% of chemical and mechanical engineering seniors could not understand "… Logically distinguish between temperature and energy in simple engineering systems and processes" (p. S2G-1). Related content areas which have been recurrently problematic for engineering students have included factors that affect the rate and amount of heat transferred, distinctions between temperature and energy, differences between temperature and perceptions of hot/cold, and the effects of surface properties on heat transfer by radiation (Miller et al, 2006;Prince & Vigeant, 2006).…”

“…Use of pre-post testing with concept inventories has revealed that some misconceptions do not alter after instruction, especially if traditional instructional methods are employed (Suping, 2003). Although Self et al (2008) noted that it was difficult to alter misconceptions with a lecture approach, engineering faculty had informally reported that instruction related to heat transfer concepts typically involved what would be considered a lecture model (Prince, 2009). Preconceptions are generally not assessed, because it is assumed that good grades in pre-requisite courses mean that students understand concepts covered in those courses.…”

“…Misconceptions can come from formal/informal schooling and experiential learning (Smith, diSessa, & Roschelle, 1993) and can be difficult to alter (Self et al, 2008).…”

Assessing Effects of Challenge-Based Instruction on Conceptual Understanding In Heat Transfer

“…Despite completing several courses in thermal and transport sciences, a significant number of students have misconceptions about simple heat transfer processes 2,3,4 . Through the development of the "Thermal and Transport Concept Inventory" (TTCI) test 5 , it has been observed that students possessed "robust misconceptions" about the differences between  heat, energy and temperature,  rate and amount of transfer (e.g., heat transfer, momentum transfer, mass transfer), and  steady-state and equilibrium processes 6 .…”