Team-Based Learning and Screencasts in the Undergraduate Thermal-Fluid Sciences Curriculum

摘要

In order to actively engage students in their own learning while maximizing the breadth and depth of course content, the author utilized a Team-Based Learning approach supplemented by screencasts to redesign the two semester thermal-fluid-sciences course sequence in the author's department. In response to the revised course format, student participation and student discussion of the course material increased significantly. Students' enthusiasm and curiosity are evident in the classroom, which were not observed in previous offerings of the same course sequence. Students have taken increased ownership of the learning process, come prepared for class, and are able to apply higher-level analysis skills to complex team-application problems. Since becoming a faculty member, it has been my goal to actively engage students in the classroom in order to enhance student participation and ultimately student learning. At the same time the breadth and depth of material cannot be sacrificed. While Thermodynamics, Fluid Dynamics, and Heat Transfer are traditionally taught in 3 or 4 distinct courses as part of most Mechanical Engineering programs, Union University offers a two semester Fluid-Thermal Science course as part of a General Engineering degree with Mechanical Engineering concentration. Teaching this course sequence - one course during the sophomore year (EGR 250) and one during the senior year (EGR 450) - I have found that the three core subjects - thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and heat transfer - lend themselves well to being taught in an integrated fashion. However, while the integrated approach seems slightly more efficient than teaching the courses separately, it is not feasible to cover all of the material from the 3 or 4 separate courses. In addition, while great textbooks have been written for integrated Fluid-Thermal Science courses, providing good macroscopic overviews and breadth, they tend to lack the level of depth desired to develop critical higher-level analysis skills.