Rossiter, Biggs and Petrulis (2008), Innovative problem-based learning approach using off and online resources in 1st year Chemical Engineering

Innovative problem-based learning approach using off and online resources in 1 st year Chemical Engineering Dr Diane Rossiter, CPE Dr Catherine Biggs, CPE Bob Petrulis, CiLASS Presented at Engineering Education Conference 2008, Loughborough.

Contents

Why? – Problem-based learning

How? – Off line resources and general format

Online resources

Was it worth it?

A student’s perspective

Our perspective

Lessons learnt and conclusions

CPE1002 - Course Aims

CPE1002 aims to provide an introduction to the principles of chemical engineering through discussion of the chemical industry and the development and application of material balances over a range of equipment and processes.

CPE1002 is a core subject in Year 1.

Why introduce PBL?

First implemented in 2005/2006

Students not seeing the connection between core technical skills and chemical engineering practice

Opportunity for change – Associate Prof Paul Lant (PAL) (University of Queensland)

What we tried to teach them

Core Technical skills

Material balances, units, system boundaries etc

Dealing with uncertainty

Personal Skills

Working and communicating in a group

Independent and self directed learning

Transferable Skills

Technical reporting

Presentations

Communication

Added site visits, group work and more problems more often. Nothing technical left out

Problem-based Tutorials (2 hours per week)

Group assignments with real data, authentic, not always one neat solution

Lectures/Keynotes (1 hour per week)

Overview and introduction

Directed learning

Homework Sheets and Paper-based Quiz

Independent study and re-enforcement

(Offline) Learning Support and Resources

7 (25%) 80% exam 20% ckw Large group; 3 hrs, 2 x term 2 hours 28 CAB+1 2003/04 15 (23%) 50% exam, 50% cwk PBL; 2 hrs, weekly 1 hour 66 CAB+PAL+1 2005/06 1 (2%) 50% exam, 50% cwk PBL; 2 hrs, weekly 1 hour 67 CAB+DR+2 2006/07 75% exam, 25% cwk Assessment 9 (16%) Failure Rate 55 Students CAB+1 Resources Small group; 3 hrs, 3 x term Tutorials 2 hours Lectures 2004/05

Reflection on PBL delivery

Majority of students happy with course delivery judging by their feedback from end-of module questionnaire.

2005/06 failure rate dependent on student’s gambling on exam – not fully engaged in PBL throughout the course

Excellent overall results for assessment in 2006/07 due to more directed feedback in PBL sessions.

However, from peer evaluation data evidence of weaker students not fully engaging in group PBL activities and being “carried” by more able students (Pitt, 2000).

With increasing student numbers a mechanism for self-directed learning rather than providing remedial f-2-f support is needed - currently not sustainable.

CiLASS Project

Development of Online Quizzes (Rossiter and Biggs, 2008)

Variety of tools available from custom made to

generic quiz tools embedded within VLEs

Our choice – WebCT Vista Quiz Tool, supported at institutional level with training.

9 types of question styles – calculated, MCQ etc

Used Respondus 3.5 for development work, reasons: ease of use, printing, WORD templates

Respondus 3.5, http://www.respondus.com/products/index.shtml

Key steps: (Rossiter and Biggs, 2008) Step 1. Brainstorming core concepts and relevant Q’s Step 4. Type question directly into Respondus v3.5 e.g calculated Step 2. Type question into MS Word e.g. MCQ, T/F Step 3. & 5 Combine in Respondus & preview Step 6. Publish in WebCT & do settings Based on what students found hard in the past

Key steps: (Rossiter and Biggs, 2008) Step 1. Brainstorming core concepts and relevant Q’s Step 4. Type question directly into Respondus v3.5 e.g calculated Step 2. Type question into MS Word e.g. MCQ, T/F Step 3. & 5 Combine in Respondus & preview Step 6. Publish in WebCT & do settings

Online learning resource

A databank of 78 online quiz questions relating to five core chemical principles topics

unit conversions using the unity brackets approach (26);

mass to mole conversions (8);

calculations and definitions relating to material balances (13);

material balance calculations without reactions (20); and

material balances with reactions (11).

Questions types included calculated, multiple choice, short answer, matching pairs, fill-in-the-blanks, true-false .

Implementation into CPE1002

Available to students in self-test mode within WebCT Vista (2008) Published to coincide with relevant key note lectures.

Feedback from individual questions directed to lecture notes and textbook

Same databank of questions was also used for WebCT Vista Quiz (worth 10% of course assessment)

In Week 9, this online test was made available with a time limit of 1 hour

The online test was released for 7 days and at the same time the self-test quizzes were made unavailable.

Out of 70 students, 63 did the online test.

The average score for the online test was 83%. Low marks for some due to not accessed self-test quizzes earlier and caught out by exactness of CAA responses required.

Contents

Online resources

Was it worth it?

Our perspective

Was it worth it? Student focus group* Student questionnaires Project leaders’ interview* *Carried out by Bob Petrulis, CiLASS

Student focus group 1 - offline support and resources 1. Eight students – Interviewer R. Petrulis (CiLASS) 3 rd March 2008 “ Last semester, I really liked visiting the paper mill site. Now we know about industry.” “ You actually felt like an engineer when you were doing the group assignments. Now I just feel like a student , learning a lot of things” If you had your choice between the group format and what you’re getting now, which would you prefer? “ In the first semester, we were learning things and I could see why we were learning them because I could see how to apply them. This semester, we’re learning a lot, but I’m not always sure why. I wish we had more practical group assignments throughout the course.” Do you think the module changed the way you approach learning or problem solving activities?

Student questionnaire results 2

To what extent has your use of online self-test quizzes helped you …

2. End of semester 1 Feedback by Year 1 students, 15 th Feb 2008, 54 responses out of 69. 1.8% didn’t know, 3.7% didn’t use and 5.6% gave no response Total of 81.5% quizzes had helped to some extent in developing core skills 7.4% 31.5% 50% 9. to develop core skills required for IBL actvities… Very little Some Very much/ quite a bit

Student focus group 1 - online support and resources “ The homeworks made us work hard, but the quizzes really helped us learn how to do the homeworks.” Did everyone else do the quizzes and the homeworks as well? [Yes.] Did you find that one was more useful than the other? “ I tried the quizzes a couple times, and they weren’t very hard . The homeworks were more challenging, and you could talk to the teachers about them. That felt so much more helpful.” A couple of you said you didn’t use the quizzes at all. Could you say why? “ They were beneficial because of the immediate feedback . With the homework, it took a week or so. The online quizzes also referred you to the book and page for more information. If you just get a grade, that’s meaningless.” “ Because you could access the quiz more than once , that made it really helpful for revision.” How about the online quizzes? What worked?

Project leaders’ Interview 3 3. Interviewer – R. Petrulis (CiLASS), Interviewees – D. Rossiter and C. Biggs, 20 March 2008 DR: It reinforces that you could describe something in three different ways and it would have meaning to different people. It’s not that the quizzes, assignments and homework cover different things—they don’t. They make it accessible to different types of learners . I think that was highlighted by what you got in the focus group. CB: The point of the quizzes was to help those who needed the basics; not to challenge those who needed to be challenged, because the homework assignments were there to do that. I think this shows that we were right to set this up in the first place. BP: Those students said they preferred to do the homework. CB: That was quite interesting. BP: There were two responses (at focus group) that I got when I asked about the online quizzes. One was that the students found it helpful for learning the material and for revision. Another, smaller group, said they found them to be too basic.

Changes in lead staff, exam timing, and introduction of online support 50% exam, 50% cwk with online quizzes 50% exam, 50% cwk Assessment 4 (5.7%) 1 (2%) Results: fails 70 67 Students DR+3 CAB+DR+2 Resources PBL ; 2 hrs, weekly PBL; 2 hrs, weekly Tutorials 1 hour 1 hour Lectures 2007/08 2006/07

Contents

Online resources

Was it worth it?

Our perspective

Lessons Learnt

Requires effort to implement - but is enjoyable.

Project time offset by saving time on homework and paper-based test marking. Benefits likely to be more obvious in future years.

Handing control for their learning to students is effective for them and us!

Conclusions

Expert L&T support was vital in realising the desired outcomes – offline Prof Paul Lant; online Diane Rossiter.

Majority of students helped develop their core skills by using self-test quizzes.

Staff also benefited from developing own CAA skills and change of role!

In their reflective statements for 2 nd PBL assignment some students referred that they accessed the quizzes repeatedly to help them solve the authentic PBL problems!!

Acknowledgements

A/Prof. Paul Lant, University of Queensland, Australia

CiLASS – Centre of Excellence in Inquiry based learning in Arts and Social Sciences

Typical format of a tutorial

Feedback on homework – small class, 4 staff using flipcharts located in different corners

IBL Activity – working in groups, typically prepare OHP with their proposed solution

Feedback on IBL Activity – whole class

Homework/Assignment – study time, queries

Figure 1 WORD file format for multiple choice style question Title: Mixer Flowsheet 2) Using the flowsheet for the mixer provided and assuming steady state conditions with no reaction occurring, determine the overall material balance and select the correct answer from the following options: @ For steady state conditions and no reaction, the overall material balance becomes: total mass flowrate IN = total mass flowrate OUT *a. A + B = P @ Correct. b. A - B = P @ Incorrect, B is an input stream. c. A + P = B @ Incorrect, P is an output stream. d. P + B = A @ Incorrect, B is an input stream. Not possible for calculated style questions! Mixer A (kg/h) B (kg/h) P (kg/h)

For Calculated Questions