Misconceptions About Rate Processes: Preliminary Evidence For The Importance Of Emergent Conceptual Schemas In Thermal And Transport Sciences

Miller, R.L.; Streveler, Ruth A.; Olds, Barbara M.; Chi, Michelene; Nelson, Mary; Geist, Mónica R.

doi:10.18260/1-2--596

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Misconceptions are prevalent in thermal and fluid sciences and persist even among advanced engineering students (Miller, Streveler, Yang, & Santiago Román, 2011). For example, more than 50% of engineering students' responses to questions on heat transfer were in clear violation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics (Miller, Streveler, Olds, et al, 2006).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, it can be difficult to attribute cause and effect relationships (Webb, Senocak, & Yang, 2014), and as a result, students often tend to mistake emergent processes with sequential processes. Traditionally, most emergent concepts are explained in the language of sequential processes (Miller, Streveler, Olds, et al, 2006), which may create misconceptions for students. Table 1 presents some distinctions between the two kinds of processes according to Chi's (2006) schema framework.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using schema training to facilitate students' understanding of challenging engineering concepts in heat transfer and thermodynamics

Yang

Streveler

Miller

et al. 2020

J of Engineering Edu

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Background: Chi and colleagues have argued that some of the most challenging engineering concepts exhibit properties of emergent systems. However, students often lack a mental framework, or schema, for understanding emergence. Slotta and Chi posited that helping students develop a schema for emergent systems, referred to as schema training, would increase the understanding of challenging concepts exhibiting emergent properties. Purpose: We tested the effectiveness of schema training and explored the nature of challenging concepts from thermodynamics and heat transfer. We investigated if schema training could (a) repair misconceptions in advanced engineering students and (b) prevent them in beginning engineering students. Method: We adapted Slotta and Chi's schema training modules and tested their impact in two studies that employed an experimental design. Items from the Thermal and Transport Concept Inventory and expert-developed multiplechoice questions were used to evaluate conceptual understanding of the participants. The language used by students in their open-ended explanations of multiple-choice questions was also coded. Results: In both studies, students in the experimental groups showed larger gains in their understanding of some concepts-specifically in dye diffusion and microfluidics in Study One, and in the final test for thermodynamics in Study Two. But in neither study did students exhibit any gain in conceptual questions about heat transfer. Conclusion: Our studies suggest the importance of examining the nature of the phenomena underlying the concepts being taught because the language used in instruction has implications for how students understand them. Therefore, we suggest that instructors reflect on their own understanding of the concepts.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using schema training to facilitate students' understanding of challenging engineering concepts in heat transfer and thermodynamics

Yang

Streveler

Miller

et al. 2020

J of Engineering Edu

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“…The study described in this paper extends ongoing work to identify difficult concepts in thermal and transport science [12] and measure students' understanding of those concepts via a concept inventory [5,6,7]. The present work focuses on two fundamental areas of engineering: engineering mechanics (statics, strength of materials, and dynamics), and electric circuits, which are complementary to thermal and transport science.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…As the conceptual framework to answer this question, we use the work of Reiner, Slotta, Chi, and Resnick [7] who posited that fundamental concepts like force, voltage, and current may be difficult for students to learn because students view those processes as if they were substances. Reiner et al called this propensity to view processes as substances a "substance-based schema" and listed 11 attributes which are mistakenly applied to processes.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying And Investigating Difficult Concepts In Engineering Mechanics And Electric Circuits

Streveler

Geist

Ammerman

et al.

2006 Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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Indiana University at Bloomington. She is co-principle investigator of three NSF-sponsored projects: Developing an Outcomes Assessment Instrument for Identifying Engineering Student Misconceptions in Thermal and Transport Sciences (DUE -0127806), Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (ESI-0227558), and Rigorous Research in Engineering Education: Creating a Community of Practice (DUE-0341127). Monica Geist, University of Northern Colorado MONICA R. GEIST is a doctoral student in the Applied Statistics and Research Methods program at the University of Northern Colorado. Monica has taught math at the college level for 15 years. Monica is presently conducting research on engineering student misconceptions in electrical and mechanical engineering. Ravel Ammerman, Colorado School of Mines RAVEL F. AMMERMAN received his BS in Engineering in 1981 at Colorado School of Mines (CSM), Golden, Colorado. He also received his MS in Electrical Engineering (Power Systems and Control) at the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1987. He has over 24 years combined teaching and industrial experience. Mr. Ammerman has co-authored and published several technical articles on Engineering Education, Curriculum Development, and Computer Applications related to Power Systems Engineering. He is an accomplished teacher having received the CSM Graduating Senior Outstanding Teaching Award in Electrical Engineering on numerous occasions. Currently, Mr. Ammerman is pursuing his Ph.D. degree in Engineering Systems (Electrical Specialty -Power Systems). His research interests include Computer Applications in Power Systems Analysis, Electrical Safety, and Engineering Education. He is a member of IEEE. Candace Sulzbach, Colorado School of Mines CANDACE S. SULZBACH is a Lecturer in the Division of Engineering at Colorado School of Mines and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Colorado. She has taught for 23 years and is the Faculty Adviser for the student chapters of the Society of Women Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers and Tau Beta Pi. She also serves on the ASCE "Committee on Student Activities." Ronald Miller, Colorado School of Mines RONALD L. MILLER is professor of chemical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines where he has taught chemical engineering and interdisciplinary courses and conducted research in educational methods for the past twenty years. He has received three university-wide teaching awards and has held a Jenni teaching fellowship at CSM. He has received grant awards for educational research from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education (FIPSE), the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

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“…students came to a conclusion that was in clear violation of the 2 nd law of thermodynamics. 1 In addition, undergraduate engineering students who had received several semesters of physics instruction still hold fundamental misconceptions of force and momentum. [17][18] Although literarily thousands of studies have reported student misconceptions in all areas of science and engineering, most have not contributed to the fundamental question: how can the misconception be repaired to promote deep fundamental understanding of key engineering and science concepts?…”

Section: Evolving New and Difficult Processes In Engineeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repairing Misconceptions: A Case Study With Advanced Engineering Students On Their Use Of Schema Training Modules

Yang¹,

Streveler²,

Miller³

et al.

2009 Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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Prior to joining the School of Engineering Education, Dr. Yang worked on a variety of interdisciplinary research projects in instructional design, distance and online learning, assessment and evaluation, technology integration, and information security and assurance in K12 schools. She is the 2009 Young Researcher Award winner from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Special Interest Group: Instructional Technology. Her current research interests are innovative instructional strategies for helping students learn difficult engineering concepts, assessment and evaluation, and technology-enhanced learning.

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Misconceptions About Rate Processes: Preliminary Evidence For The Importance Of Emergent Conceptual Schemas In Thermal And Transport Sciences

Cited by 22 publications

References 11 publications

Using schema training to facilitate students' understanding of challenging engineering concepts in heat transfer and thermodynamics

Using schema training to facilitate students' understanding of challenging engineering concepts in heat transfer and thermodynamics

Identifying And Investigating Difficult Concepts In Engineering Mechanics And Electric Circuits

Repairing Misconceptions: A Case Study With Advanced Engineering Students On Their Use Of Schema Training Modules

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