(733g) Course Packages for Thermodynamics and Material and Energy Balances

One of the primary obstacles to the use of best practices in engineering education is overcoming implementation barriers for faculty.  To combat this, we have prepared structured course packages for chemical engineering thermodynamics and material and energy balances courses using Microsoft OneNote. These contain easy-to-use and effective active learning resources, thereby facilitating the adoption of educational best practices and improving student learning.  A course package includes a set of teaching materials that is organized according to learning goals, is easy to navigate, and provides all the necessary resources for active learning and effective assessment.  The course packages include links to screencasts (short videos with narration) that can be viewed before class as part of a flipped classroom as well as a complete set of class notes that will utilize active learning (ConcepTests with peer instruction, in-class group exercises, etc.). In addition, the course packages incorporate measureable learning objectives for each class period, a database of solved example problems, homework assignments, and exams. Instructions for the use of the course materials as well as how to adapt them for other courses is an integral part of the package. An essential element of these course packages is explanations of the underlying theories for these teaching approaches and links to additional references. These course packages are created in Microsoft OneNote to provide users a central location for all their course materials and to make them easy to use.  In addition, the materials are mapped to popular textbooks, thus aiding novice instructors to most effectively use these textbooks to promote student learning.  A generic OneNote template was also prepared that can readily be used for other courses. More information about the course packages and our inventory of conceptests and screencasts can be found at www.learncheme.com.  The site contains more than 1,300  ConcepTests and 900 screencasts. The screencasts are also available on iTunesU and YouTube/learncheme.