MARGOT VIGEANT
Bucknell University

MAKING EDUCATION STICKY: APPROACHES TO THE REPAIR OF UNDERGRADUATES' MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THERMODYNAMICS AND HEAT TRANSFER

Abstract

Students enter our classrooms with a variety of ideas about how the world works, not all of which are accurate.  Even for concepts such as the Second Law of thermodynamics, where one might expect that students have no pre-course experiences that might lead to misunderstandings, we find that many undergraduate students begin their courses with incorrect conceptual ideas.  More disturbingly, a semester of typical instruction may move students’ conceptual understanding little, even if they demonstrate ability to correctly manipulate relevant equations.  In this talk, we’ll discuss the evidence for student learning in a variety of different environments and how our work demonstrates that inquiry-based activities can be a useful approach for improving conceptual learning.  By using these approaches we can double the learning gains seen in lecture-only courses.  I’ll also discuss my current work adapting those activities to be more faculty-friendly, and ongoing projects considering student-generated video and games as learning tools. 

MARGOT VIGEANT has been a member of the Chemical Engineering Department at Bucknell University since 1999 and Associate Dean in the College of Engineering since 2009. She earned her B.S in chemical engineering from Cornell University, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.  Professor Vigeant’s research focus is on engineering pedagogy.  She is particularly interested in conceptual learning in thermodynamics, development of in- and out- of class activities that benefit from technology, and use of games in STEM education.

For more info: www.chem-eng.utoronto.ca/news.htm

Websites of Interest

• University of Toronto
• Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
• Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry