Transforming Experimental Teaching of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer Courses Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic (original) (raw)
Related papers
An effective laboratory method for thermal fluid mechanics course
2014
Laboratory practice plays a crucial role in engineering especially in thermal fluid education. The advancement of computational and computer technologies have ushered in a new horizon in learning and teaching of laboratory practices world-wide. Apart from traditional hands-on laboratory practice, the virtual/simulated laboratory practices are playing an increasingly dominant role. The virtual laboratory practices offer unique opportunities for students to visualise complex concepts and remove the time and location barrier. This paper presents a 3-step hybrid laboratory practice developed at RMIT University for thermal fluid course. It is evident that a combination of video clip, hands on laboratory practice and virtual/simulated laboratory practice enhances the student learning experience and learning outcomes.
Journal of Chemical Education, 2021
The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic required educational institutions to adapt face-to-face to remote teaching. This study reports the experience in the first semester of 2020 for a Chemical Engineering Capstone Design Course at the University of Campinas in Brazil. In this course, senior year students develop a group project, in which they simulate a chemical plant and evaluate its technoeconomic feasibility. In 2020, the groups were proposed to design a process to replace diesel fuel from the bus fleet in Campinas city with renewable fuel DME. Because of the pandemic, several adaptations were needed: the theoretical classes became asynchronous, group meetings were online, a commercial simulator was replaced by an open access one, and the schedule was extended by 2 weeks. Despite that, the students had a great performance, comparable to face-to-face. To assess student satisfaction, a questionnaire was used. The course met the expectations of most of the students who also recommended keeping it in the remote format or merging it with face-to-face teaching. Therefore, these changes made it possible to apply new teaching dynamics and tools that could be used in the future to improve the course quality.
2007
Abstract- A Weblab is an experiment operated remotely via internet. Besides the strictly technical aspects of such an experiment, which may contribute for the learning of Chemical Engineering fundamentals, there is another important feedback when teams of students of two different countries are working together: the Weblab turns into an intercultural experience, enhancing the communication skills of the students. A Weblab between Universidade Federal de São Carlos (DEQ/UFSCar) and the Ecole Nationale Supérieurs d’Ingénieurs en Arts Chimiques et Technologiques (ENSIACET) is presented in this work. A mass transfer experiment in a bench scale reactor (agitated and aerated) had to be studied by heterogeneous teams, thus emulating challenges that will be common in future work environments. In order to
2010
Texas A&M University at Qatar, TAMUQ, is a newly funded school of engineering whose first class of undergraduate students graduated in 2008. As the university is located in the heart of the Middle East, TAMUQ students are primarily from neighboring and Asian countries with very diverse educational and cultural backgrounds. Teaching engineering sciences in such a new and culturally diverse environment introduces many opportunities for innovation. However, there are many challenges that are unique to TAMUQ. Because of their varied backgrounds and precollege educational experience, students find it more difficult to link classroom theory with physical results and applications. Integration and application of coursework from one class to the next has also proven difficult. Learning Thermo-Fluid materials for many engineering students can be daunting, no matter their previous background. Thermo-Fluid laboratories are often the first place students have a chance to make the physical real-w...
Innovative Practices in Chemical Engineering Teaching -a Brief Review
https://www.ijrrjournal.com/IJRR\_Vol.4\_Issue.3\_March2017/Abstract\_IJRR003.html, 2017
The chemical engineer has to deal with various interdisciplinary subjects such as mechanical engineering, environmental engineering, biotechnology etc. Many important subjects such as mass transfer, heat transfer, process engineering and fluid flow operations involve time consuming and rigorous computations. The equations in heat and material balance, sand transport phenomena in non-stationary conditions are mostly having non analytical solutions. Also many experimental methods can be made more interesting and easy to understand by using innovative and different teaching methods. Software like MATLAB, virtual laboratory can be a great help in understanding the chemical engineering concepts.
Experiences of engineering thermodynamics students during online learning: Lessons for post-pandemic
The Journal of Engineering and Exact Sciences
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the education sector has been seriously impacted, leading to the migration of academic offerings to online learning mode. This investigation focuses on the experiences of engineering students offering Thermodynamics as a subject at a University of Technology in South Africa, as they transition to online academic platforms. Resource availability, such as a quantitative learning platform and access to computer laboratories on campus, as well as other institutional supports, were evaluated. A total of 100 students offering the Engineering Thermodynamics module participated in the surveys and responded to the questionnaire. The study identified various constraints that affected the students' learning experience due to the online learning format, including connectivity issues, time management, inadequate university support, limited understanding of online learning platforms, and high cost of data. Various strategies were recommended to add...
Towards Simulation Aided Online Teaching: Material Design for Applied Fluid Mechanics
International Journal of Online and Biomedical Engineering (iJOE), 2018
Learning is shifting from synchronous in-class settings to asynchronous online platforms in an attempt to make education accessible to wider audience. However, certain vital components of engineering education, such as laboratory work and hands-on practices, are harder to conduct online. Understanding how technology can help offering such components online can impact the quality of online education a great deal. The goal of this study is to improve the effectiveness of online courses in engineering. Particularly, we aim to transform some of the hands-on practices that are fundamental for engineering education into online setting. We first explored existing literature and found that real-time experimentation can be carried out with the help of online modules. We then designed two simulations for a fluid mechanics lab. We expect these simulations to be used to support teaching and evaluation of fluid mechanics through various assignments that utilize these simulations. This study sur...
Implementation Of Integrated Thermo Fluid Experiments In Wpi's Discovery Classroom
2020
An integrated experimental, analytical, and numerical approach to engineering education was developed and implemented in introductory fluid-thermal science courses at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Central to the implementation of these innovations is a facility at WPI known as the Discovery Classroom. In this facility the traditional lecture hall has been redefined to combine a multi-media classroom, an adjoining experimental laboratory, and computational facilities to produce an environment where non-traditional learning takes place. We have designated the approach using this facility as the DIANE philosophy: Daily Integration of Analytical, Numerical, and Experimental methods into engineering classes. In a typical application, experimental apparatus are demonstrated directly in class during an engineering lecture. Real-time quantitative data are acquired from the apparatus, and the data are analyzed and compared to concurrently developed theory by the students in class. The objective of this approach is to help students better understand relationships between the physical experiments and theory, while gaining an awareness of the integration of various modes of engineering analysis. This approach also allows the effective inclusion of significant experimental components into courses taught within WPI's seven-week term structure. Three introductory undergraduate engineering classes at WPI, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and aerodynamics, were redesigned. Student assessment of the innovations indicated that approximately 90% of 275 students preferred the redesigned courses to traditional lecture-oriented courses, while also believing that they gained a better understanding of engineering fundamentals.
Virtual Laboratory: A Boon to the Mechanical Engineering Education During Covid-19 Pandemic
Higher Education for the Future, 2020
The engineering students understand the engineering concepts effectively when they conduct the experiments in the laboratory. Hence, laboratory is as important as theory; however, the ill-equipped laboratory facilities affect the students’ learnability. The virtual laboratories may help the students overcome the problems faced by them in the conventional laboratory. In India, educational activities during the middle of the semester were affected due to lockdown related to COVID-19. However, the theory classes were conducted online, and educational institutions are finding it difficult to complete the laboratory experiments due to closure of colleges for the students due to COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, we have conducted a faculty development programme for the engineering college faculty members on mechanical engineering virtual laboratories. Similarly, we have trained the mechanical engineering students on fluid mechanics virtual laboratory. We have taken feedback from the participants ...