A new model-building, problem-solving computer environment for learning and practicing heat transfer

摘要

Engineering education is being challenged to balance its traditional concentration in the engineering sciences, which emphasizes fundamentals and analysis skills, with more emphasis on the system integration skills commonly required for engineering practice. Incrasingly, this balance is being achieved by integrating design throughout the curriculum, including those courses, such as heat transfer, which are rooted in the engineering sciences. In such courses, design and open-ended problems provide rich opportunities to relate fundamentals to engineering models, which in turn can be linked to design decisions. Such problems often require exploratory, what-if, and parameter sensitivity considerations, which can best be addressed using software that provides a model-building environment. The software should include a numerical equation solver which allows students to independently develop system equations, as well as ready access to standard customizable models for commonly encountered thermal systems. The objective of this paper are to describe how such software can be used as a productivity and learning tool, to share some experiences associated with its use in a heat transfer course, and to discuss the impact of these activities on student learning.