engaging students through their everyday experiences eann patterson

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ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH THEIR EVERYDAY EXPERIENCES

Eann PattersonSchool of Engineering, University of Liverpool

&College of Engineering, Michigan State University

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Outline

• Introduction– Pilot study results– Pedagogical discussion & justification

• Everyday Engineering Examples (E3)– What is ‘everyday’ for our students?

• Engage– Attracting & holding student attention

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• For concepts illustrated with E3 – Significantly more students rated their learning as high

or significant than in the control class – E3 overall value correlated very highly with

contribution to understanding– Learning independent of the level of difficulty

E3 enhance learning

Campbell PB, Patterson EA, Busch Vishniac I, Kibler T, Integrating Applications in the Teaching of Fundamental Concepts, Proc. 2008 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, (AC 2008-499), 2008

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Poll A:

• Which of the following best describes you:1. I am flexible and open minded; I am happy to ‐

have a go at new things without preparation.2. I am careful and cautious; I investigate a new

topic or process in depth before trying it.3. I like realistic, but flexible plans; I try things out

by practicing to see if they work.4. I plan events to the last detail; I like to know the

right answers before trying something new.

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Convergers(doing & thinking)

Accommodators(doing & feeling)

Divergers(watching & feeling)

Assimilators(watching & thinking)

How do people learn?

thinking

feeling

Active Experimentation Reflective Observation

Abstract Conceptualization

Concrete Experience

watchingdoing

Kolb DA, Learning style inventory technical manual. McBer & Co., Boston, MA, 1976.

1 2

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1. flexible & open‐minded

3. realistic & flexible

4. plan to the last detail

2. careful & cautious

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Attention grabbers

“educational role of faculty is not to impart knowledge; but to design learning environments that support … knowledge acquisition” [for all students]

Adams RS, Felder RM, Reframing professional development: A systems approach to preparing engineering educators to educate tomorrow’s engineers. J. Engineering Education, 97(3):230-240, 2008

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Cycling through learning modes

1. Having an

experience

ACTIVIST

2. Reviewing the

experienceREFLECTOR

3. Conclu

ding from

the experience

THEORIST

4. Planning the

next steps

PRAGMATIST

Honey P, Mumford A. The Manual of Learning Styles 3rd Ed. Maidenhead, 1992

watchingdoing

thinking

feeling

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Attention grabbers

“Knowledge is experience, everything else is just information” Albert Einstein

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Common experiences

• Modern students have limited lab or industry experience

• Our task is to find their common experiences & use them to illustrate engineering principles

• Everyday Engineering Examples provide a pool of common experiences

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Cycling through learning modes

1. Having an

experience

ACTIVIST

2. Reviewing the

experienceREFLECTOR

3. Conclu

ding from

the experience

THEORIST

4. Planning the

next steps

PRAGMATIST

Honey P, Mumford A. The Manual of Learning Styles 3rd Ed. Maidenhead, 1992

watchingdoing

thinking

feeling

EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE

INSTRUCTOR LEAD

INSTRUCTOR/STUDENT ACTIVITY

STUDENT LEAD

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Poll B

• How old are you?

1. Under 35

2. 36 – 45

3. 46 – 55

4. Over 55

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Things have changed

When you were at high school the following did not exist:

1. Under 35 Flashdrive (2000) q

2. 36 – 45 Digital MP3 player (1997) plus all above q

3. 46 – 55 Digital camera (1988), Graphing Calculator (1985) plus all above

4. Over 55 Internet (1983), Spreadsheet (1978), Solar- powered calculator (1978) plus all above

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Anthropologically significant

• The cultural gap between student and professor is large enough to have warranted an anthropological study:– Nathan R, My freshman year: What a professor

learned by becoming a student, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 2005

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Everyday Engineering Examples

• Familiar real-life objects & situations used to illustrate engineering principles

• Level of idealization minimized to retain relevance and context

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Poll C - Who said?

“everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler”

Niels BohrAlbert EinsteinWilliam of OccamRichard Feynman

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Poll C - Who said?

“everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler”Albert Einstein

Ockham’s razor: entities are not to be multiplied without necessity William of Ockham

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Everyday Engineering Examples

• Familiar real-life objects & situations used to illustrate engineering principles

• Level of idealization minimized to retain relevance and context

• Choice of examples is critical – Transparent connection to students’ experience – Basis for straightforward implementation of engineering

principles

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Essential attribute #1

• Examples need to be familiar to all students – Using sailboats to teach vectors might work in

Maine but not in the Midwest.– Walnuts falling from trees to illustrate kinematics of

particles might work on a tree-lined rural campus but is irrelevant for an urban, inner city university.

• Students may panic about the context and fail to listen1

1. Rosser SV, Gender issues in teaching science, in S. Rose. & B. Brown (eds.), Report on the 2003 Workshop on Gender Issues in the Sciences, pp. 28-37, 2004.

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Essential attribute #2

• Pose questions with useful or interesting answers – Absence of a useful or interesting end-point creates

tedious intellectual exercises– Perceived usefulness of learning influences students’

motivation1

• ‘Fruitful applications’ – Art Heinricher, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Professor of Mathematical

Sciences, WPI.

1. Wigfield A, Eccles JS, Expectancy-value theory of motivation, Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1): 68-81, 2000

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E3 Exemplar #1

• WINNIE THE POOH & PIGLET– For Freshman Physics– Topic: Buoyancy– Activity:

• Show video & discuss buoyancy http://www.archive.org/details/PoohBuoyancy

• Have students calculate number of helium balloons needed to lift them in a lawn chair

• When they have answer show them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWYtL7afsMQ&NR=1

Chad Young of Nicholls State University on www.EngageEngineering.org

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E3 Exemplar #2

• FOOD CARTONS/BOXES– For Freshman Engineering Graphics– Topic: Pattern Development– Activity:

• Distribute old boxes to students• Have students estimate volume & surface area• Disassemble boxes measure area of card used• Discuss how box manufacturers minimize waste.

Sheryl Sorby of Michigan Tech. University on www.EngageEngineering.org

22Funded by the National Science Foundation. Opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the funder.

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Poll D – Who said?

“It's very hard, so I try and make it as engaging as it can be. But you have to face the fact that, no matter how good it is, you can only hold their attention for a little while.”

– Eric Clapton

– Bill Clinton

– Richard Feynman

– Charles Vest

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Poll D – Who said?


– Eric Clapton

– Bill Clinton

– Richard Feynman

– Charles Vest

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Poll D:


Eric Clapton (September 4th, 2005 San Diego Union Tribune)

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Lesson plans

• Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate & Evaluate– not original: Biological Sciences Curriculum Study in

the 1980s from work by Atkin and Karplus1

• “Disease of the modern age: continuous partial attention” 2

– Short pieces & may need to re-engage at each step

• Designed to dovetail into existing course plans

1. Atkin JM, Karplus R, Discovery or invention? Science Teacher 29(5): 45, 19622. Friedman TL, Hot, Flat and Crowded – Why we need a green revolution and how it can renew America, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York, 2008

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5Es (from OED)

• Engage – to attract & hold fast [the students’ attention]

• Explore – to look into closely, scrutinize, to pry into [the topic of the lesson]

• Explain – to unfold, to make plain or intelligible [the principle underpinning the topic]

• Elaborate – to work out in detail [an exemplar employing the principle]

• Evaluate – to reckon up, ascertain the amount of [knowledge & understanding acquired by the students]

Little W, Fowler HW, Coulson J, Onions CT, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Guild Publishing, London, 1983

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Sophomore Solids

ELEMENTARY STRESS SYSTEMS1. Stress & strain in uniaxial bars iPod,

femur, cello2. Displacement plus deformation in control

cables Bicycle gears, sailboat rudder

3. Stress in pressure vessel wall Bicycle pump

STATICALLY INDETERMINATE PROBLEMS4. Compatibility & equilibrium iPod,

dinosaur displayTORSION5. Stress & strain due to applied torque Bottle

closuresBEAM BENDING6. Bending moments & shear stress

Skateboarder, unicyclist on plank

STRAIN ENERGY7. Conservation of Energy

Slingshot, bungee jumper8. Helical springs

Bicycle suspension, pogo stickMETHOD OF SUPERPOSITION9. Eccentric loading

Basketball goal10. Thermal stress & statically

indeterminacy Rail tracks, jewellery pendant

TWO-DIMENSIONAL STRESS SYSTEMS11. Mohr’s circle of stress

Sausages12. Combined bending and torsion

Wind-up clock, motor

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Engage

• Take your iPod into class and dangle it by the earphone cable. Cut open the cable on an old set of earphones to expose cable and insulation.

Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate & Evaluate

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Explore

• Pass around class lengths of copper wire and lengths of empty hollow insulation and invite students to stretch them.

• Discuss relative extensions and stiffness. • Someone will probably snap one so talk about

ultimate tensile stress. Be sure have to enough lengths that every student has at least one to play with while you are talking.


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Explain

• Work through the example below:An iPod, with a mass of 30 grams is dangled from its earplug cable. (a)Assuming that the copper wire of diameter 0.40mm inside the

cable carries the entire load, evaluate the stress in the wire due to the weight of the iPod.

(b) If the wire in (a) is 1.50m long, by how much will it stretch?(c) Assuming that the plastic insulation, which fits snugly over the

wire and has an external diameter of 1mm, carries the entire load, evaluate the stress in the insulation due to the weight of iPoD.

(d) If the insulation is made from uPVC for in the circumstances described in (c) calculate the extension of the insulation


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Elaborate

• In practice the load will be borne by the wire and insulation together, discuss how this will influence the extension of both of them. – The copper and plastic are bound together and must extend

by the same amount, i.e. wire = insulation. – Consequently the wire will extend less and the insulation

extend more; causing more tension in the insulation than calculated and less tension in the wire.


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Evaluate

• Invite the students to undertake the following example: (a) Estimate the stress in your femur when standing still and

upright with your weight distributed evenly on both feet.(b) Repeat for an adult African elephant and for an adult mouse.

Only rough estimates of the bone dimensions and mass are necessary.

(c)Assuming that the strength of bone in humans, elephants and mice is approximately equal, discuss the relative susceptibility to fractures.


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E3 Exemplar #4

• BALLOONS– For Sophomore Thermodynamics – Topic: Entropy – Activity:

• Ask students to blow up balloons & place them in a tidy pile in a corner of the room. You won’t get a tidy pile!

• Ask students to discuss in pairs how the pile of balloons is analogous to heat from the gas stove or barbeque.

• Energy will always disperse unless it is constrained from doing so. Our most common experience of this dispersion is heat transfer as in the case of the gas stove or barbeque. The measure of energy dispersion is entropy.

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E3 Exemplar #5

• VIBRATING RULER– For Junior Dynamics – Topic: Free and Forced Vibration– Activity:

• Clamp one end on the bench and flick the free end of the ruler so that it vibrates. Slide it onto the bench so that the pitch of the noise changes – the frequency will go up.

• Show the students how to equate kinetic and strain energy to find the natural frequency.

• Ask students to repeat the analysis for a whip aerial with a ball on the tip.

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E3 Exemplar #6

• BALSA WOOD PLANES– For Sophomore Fluids – Topic: Turbomachines– Activity:

• Invite students to assemble and fly planes.• Ask students to draw a velocity diagram for an element of

the propeller blade. Discuss pitch angle and local angle of attack.

• Explain about thrust coefficients and advance ratios• Discuss how pumps are characterized

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E3 enhance learning

• For concepts illustrated with E3 – Significantly more students rated their learning as high

or significant than in the control class – E3 overall value correlated very highly with

contribution to understanding– Learning not tied to level of difficulty

• Teaching effectiveness rated significantly higher compared to control classes

Campbell PB, Patterson EA, Busch Vishniac I, Kibler T, Integrating Applications in the Teaching of Fundamental Concepts, Proc. 2008 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, (AC 2008-499), 2008

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Scott’s experience

• Dr Scott Kiefer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michigan State University– Talking about his experience using an Everyday Engineering Example in

ME222:Mechanics of Solids

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Take aways / Conclusions

• Exploit the learning cycle via everyday experiences

• E3 attributes:– Familiar to all students– Useful / interesting (to support motivation)– Resonant with students using appropriate context

• 5E lesson plans: – Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate– Designed to dovetail into existing course plans

watchingdoing

thinking

feeling

Processing Continuum

Perc

eptio

n

C

ontin

uum

1. Having an

experience

ACTIVIST

2. Reviewing the

experienceREFLECTOR

3. Conclu

ding from

the experience

THEORIST

4. Planning the

next steps

PRAGMATIST

watchingdoing

thinking

feeling

Processing Continuum

Perc

eptio

n

C

ontin

uum

1. Having an

experience

ACTIVIST

1. Having an

experience

ACTIVIST

2. Reviewing the

experienceREFLECTOR

2. Reviewing the

experienceREFLECTOR

3. Conclu

ding from

the experience

THEORIST

3. Conclu

ding from

the experience

THEORIST

4. Planning the

next steps

PRAGMATIST

4. Planning the

next steps

PRAGMATIST

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“That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way. ”

Doris Lessing, Nobel Laureate for Literature

engaging students through their everyday experiences eann patterson

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