Improving Retention In A Thermodynamics Curriculum

Much attention is now being paid to assessment of learning in engineering technology. Current techniques usually focus on the individual course to see if desired outcomes have been met. These methods typically ignore the question of whether the student has retained the information and can recall it at a later date. The establishment of a prerequisite for a given course assumes retention based on the student’s grade in the prerequisite course. To test the validity of this assumption, the faculty of the Mechanical Engineering Technology Department (MET) at Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI), instituted, in the fall of 1999, a review test for students beginning a Thermodynamics II course. The test was made up of six questions on basic differential and integral calculus and four questions on basic thermodynamics. These represented the course’s two prerequisites and all questions were multiple choice. The average scores for the students over an eight semester period were 46.6% for the mathematics and 38.3% for the thermodynamics, with a 43.3% overall. Clearly, retention has been limited. In the fall of 2001 the MET Department instituted a comprehensive examination, also multiple choice, in its senior capstone design course covering twelve core subjects, including thermodynamics. While the results of this test have also shown limited retention (the average overall score is 47%), the students did much better on the four thermodynamics questions repeated from the test in Thermodynamics II (67% average). The marked improvement suggests retention can be enhanced by retesting subject material through the student’s course of study for the BS degree.