Simple Experiments For The Thermal And Fluid Sciences

An NSF funded project called The Engineering of Everyday Things (EET) uses simple, everyday devices to help teach core concepts in the thermal and fluid sciences. Exercises are being developed which can be used for laboratory classes, in-class demonstrations, or as supplemental instruction outside of the class. It is also possible to extend the time spent on the exercise by incorporating portions of them into a standard classroom lecture. The desired outcomes of the exercises are to overcome students’ misperceptions and to increase their understanding of the underlying core concept involved in the exercise. The EET exercises use simple hardware that is either based on consumer items like a hair dryer or a blender, or simple equipment like an open tank of water or a duct with a change in area. The use of familiar or simple equipment is designed to engage students by demonstrating the relevance of their coursework to their everyday lives. Additionally, the use of the simple equipment reduces the need for the students to concentrate on the operation of the equipment and allows them to focus more on the concepts involved. The EET laboratory exercises use a guided inquiry approach to challenge student misconceptions, and to promote deeper understanding through qualitative reasoning. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the project and to present some of our research highlights on student learning gains and attitude change. Details of specific exercises are presented in companion papers. The goal is to develop interest in this approach to instruction and to show faculty how they can easily incorporate these ideas into their lecture-based and laboratory-based classes.