Many engineering educators and industry partners emphasize the need for students to apply their knowledge to new and challenging problems. A lack of conceptual understanding has been shown to severely restrict students’ ability to solve new problems since they do not have the foundational understanding to use their knowledge in new situations. This problem is exacerbated by science and engineering classrooms that often reward students more for rote learning than for conceptual understanding. There is clearly a need for more emphasis on conceptual understanding in the chemical engineering curriculum.
In this webinar, we describe the AIChE Concept Warehouse, a web-based instructional tool that enables faculty within the discipline of chemical engineering to better provide their students concept-based instruction. Instructor and student interfaces are available at no cost at http://cw.edudiv.org, and university faculty can obtain an account through this site.
This webinar illustrates the benefits of concept-based instruction and then walks through the resources available on the Concept Warehouse, and how to navigate the site.
Resources include:
- ConcepTests: There are around 3,000 ConcepTests available for core chemical engineering classes. These are questions selected or written by the instructor that are used for active learning, even in large classes. They help students develop understanding of engineering concepts and help faculty and students identify the level of mastery.
- Concept Inventories: There are 10 concept inventories available. Concept Inventories (CIs) are valid and reliable instruments meant to help instructors determine the extent of conceptual understanding about specific science or engineering subjects. Usually they are used at the start and end of a term to measure the “learning gains” and compare different instructional designs.
- Instructional Tools: We address three types of instructional tools that have been recently added including: Reflection Activities, Interactive Virtual Labs, and inquiry based activities.
Finally, we describe how to apply for an account and log in, and some of the support features on the site.
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Presenter
Webinar content is available with the kind permission of the author(s) solely for the purpose of furthering AIChE’s mission to educate, inform and improve the practice of professional chemical engineering. The content reflects the views, opinions, and recommendations of the presenters. AIChE does not warrant or represent, expressly or by implication, the correctness or accuracy of the content of the information presented. All other uses are forbidden without the express consent of the author(s). For permission to re-use, please contact chemepermissions@aiche.org. Attendee contact information, including email addresses, will be shared with AIChE, with the option to unsubscribe from future communications.
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