Repairing Student Misconceptions Using Ontology Training: A Study With Junior And Senior Undergraduate Engineering Students

Abstract

She obtained both her master's and Ph.D. degrees in Educational Technology from Purdue in 2004 and 2008, respectively. She has taught a variety of subjects at the K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels. She also has worked on various instructional deign and technology-supported learning projects across disciplines. Dr. Yang's research interests are instructional design and strategies for helping students learn difficult science and engineering concepts, technology-supported learning, online and distance learning, assessment and evaluation.

An economical in-class sticker microfluidic activity develops student expertise in microscale physics and device manufacturing

“…Conceptual change is a multi-stage process of learning that actively changes categorization of knowledge. 1,32,41 The process of conceptual change begins with an experience where students are likely to rely on an existing misconception and then struggle or make a mistake because of that reliance ( i.e. , eliciting).…”

“…Microfluidics embodies the convergence of knowledge from fields as broad as fluid dynamics, materials science, chemistry, and manufacturing. Those contributing fields are often conceptually challenging for students in their own right (e.g., fluid dynamics [1][2][3][4][5] and manufacturing 6,7 ). Perhaps unsurprisingly, their intersection in microfluidics amplifies learning challenges as students must synthesize concepts from multiple fields along with new behaviours that emerge from miniaturization.…”

“…Perhaps unsurprisingly, their intersection in microfluidics amplifies learning challenges as students must synthesize concepts from multiple fields along with new behaviours that emerge from miniaturization. 1,4 To aid learning, many creative approaches to microfluidic instruction and activities have emerged, especially those developed for true novices with limited technical background. [8][9][10] Frequently, however, the focus of the design and reporting of the resulting activities is on explaining the device technologies used in the activities.…”

Engineering Students' Thinking About Technical Systems: An Ontological Categories Approach

“…However, only a few researchers have assessed higher-level conceptual knowledge structures (i.e., ontological categories). With the exception of the assessment and modification of the ontological categories sequential processes and emergent processes in the specific context of understanding diffusion, heat transfer, and microfluidics in a sample of undergraduate engineering students (Yang et al, 2010), ontological categories in engineering have been largely unknown so far.…”

“…A fault tree analysis of a technical system, such as a space capsule, may be easier having activated the Applying profile with its focus on logic (event A leading to event B if C), function (knowledge of the function of each system element under normal conditions), behavior (knowledge of the different system states and their succession), and prerequisites (knowledge of requirements of the system to function normally). Constructive university instruction may explicitly address ontological knowledge structuresthereby also facilitating intermediate-level conceptual learning (Jacobson, 2001;Yang et al, 2010;Chi et al, 2012). Direct teaching of an emergent-causal ontological category to interpret non-sequential science processes, for instance, helped students develop appropriate conceptual knowledge on the emergent process of diffusion (Chi et al, 2012).…”