Evaluating the Effectiveness of Modelling-Oriented Workshops for Engineering Undergraduates in the Field of Thermally Activated Phenomena

Autor/inn/en	Battaglia, Onofrio Rosario; Di Paola, Benedetto; Persano Adorno, Dominique; Pizzolato, Nicola; Fazio, Claudio
Titel	Evaluating the Effectiveness of Modelling-Oriented Workshops for Engineering Undergraduates in the Field of Thermally Activated Phenomena
Quelle	In: Research in Science Education, 49 (2019) 5, S.1395-1413 (19 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Fazio, Claudio)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0157-244X
DOI	10.1007/s11165-017-9660-0
Schlagwörter	Workshops; Engineering Education; Chemical Engineering; Undergraduate Students; Teaching Methods; Computer Software; Inquiry; Course Content; Student Attitudes; Instructional Effectiveness; Thinking Skills; Foreign Countries; Thermodynamics; Comparative Analysis; Laboratory Experiments; Inferences; Computer Simulation; Italy + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Lernwerkstatt; Schulung; Ingenieurausbildung; Chemisches Prüfverfahren; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Kursprogramm; Schülerverhalten; Unterrichtserfolg; Denkfähigkeit; Ausland; Thermodynamik; Laboratory work; Laborarbeit; Inference; Inferenz; Computergrafik; Computersimulation; Italien
Abstract	Two 20-h modelling-based workshops focused on the explanation of thermally activated phenomena were held at the University of Palermo, Italy, during the Academic Year 2014-2015. One of them was conducted by applying an inquiry-based approach, while the other, still based on laboratory and modelling activities, was not focused on inquiry. Seventy-two students belonging to the Undergraduate Program for Chemical Engineering attended the two workshops. The related content was focused on an "à la Feynman" unifying approach to thermally activated phenomena. Questionnaires were administered to the students of both groups, before and post instruction. Responses were analysed using k-means cluster analysis and students' inferred lines of reasoning about the description and explanation of phenomena were studied in both groups. We find that both workshops can be considered effective in improving student's reasoning skills. However, the inquiry-based approach revealed to be more effective than the traditional one in helping students to build mechanisms of functioning and explicative models and to identify common aspects in apparently different phenomena. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01