Presentation by Dr Diane Rossiter, Dr Catherine Biggs and Dr Robert Petrulis (University of Sheffield, Department of Chemical and Process Engineering and CILASS) at the Engineering Education Conference 2008, Loughborough, entitled: 'Innovative problem-based learning approach using off and online resources in 1st year Chemical Engineering'

1. 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.

7. 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

10. 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

11. 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

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

16. 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?

18. 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?

19. 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.

20. 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

26. 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)

31. Other question style - matching