Characterizing undergraduate engineering students' understanding of sustainability

Engineering professionals in Australia and internationally are coming under increased pressure to practise engineering more sustainably. In response to this pressure, the Institution of Engineers, Australia, has updated the procedure for accreditation of the engineering baccalaureate to ensure inclusion of sustainability learning. In order to graduate, Australian engineering students must now 'understand sustainability'. This paper reports on a theoretical synthesis of the literature on sustainability and understanding, and an empirical investigation into sustainability conceptions held by a group of chemical engineering undergraduate students at the University of Sydney. During the theoretical synthesis we examined what it might mean for a student to understand sustainability by deriving a suite of sustainability principles and describing the component parts of an expert-like understanding of sustainability. In the empirical investigation, students' written responses to the question 'In your own words, what is sustainability?' were analysed using a modified version of the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. The SOLO analysis revealed broad structural variation in the way our students understood sustainability.     

物理化学中“热力学第二定律”教学浅析

物理化学中热力学第二定律及熵的概念较难理解和掌握,文章针对这种情况,对教学中的重点和难点进行了阐述.     

工程热力学的多媒体教学实践

将多媒体制作技术应用到工程热力学教学中是很有必要的。用于课堂教学的多媒体课件应该是以学生为授课的主体、教师为授课的主导,强调要突出教师的主导作用。本文从多媒体教学实践的方法和要点等方面入手,讲述了工程热力学多媒体课件的内容组织和制作要点,同时也提出工程热力学多媒体教学过程中应当注意的问题。     

VBA在化工热力学多媒体教学中的应用

本文通过状态方程求解和汽液相平衡计算两个典型实例,介绍了在化工热力学课程的多媒体教学过程中,使用PowerPoint的Visual Basic for Application(VBA)技术来演示利用化工热力学解决实际问题的计算方法。VBA的应用不仅有助于提高学生的知识应用能力,还有助于提高学生学习化工热力学的兴趣。     

热力学基本理论教学实践与思考

热力学是物理化学的基础和重要组成部分,但热力学理论性强,概念抽象,公式繁多,推导过程复杂,教学难度和学习难度都很大。详细描述了热力学一些基本理论的教学实践,包括饱和蒸汽压与分压的关系、状态函数和过程量的特点、体积功的计算公式、热力学能和焓变的计算、熵的定义和熵增加原理等热力学中的难点重点。此外阐述了如何利用各种方法和手段,如形象直观的图形、生动活泼的范例和简洁有效的讲解让学生能更加轻松地理解和应用这些知识点。     

化工热力学虚拟实验室的构建

化工热力学实验具有仪器设备多、数据处理难度大等显著特点,因此化工热力学虚拟实验室的构建是一个相对复杂的过程.在研究虚拟实验室理论及其开发技术的基础上,确定了化工热力学网络虚拟实验室的构建类型为浏览式网络虚拟实验室,开发技术为Flash技术.所开发的网络虚拟实验室可以对实验过程进行完整展现,可以加深用户对实验过程及相应的化工热力学理论的了解.     

大学低年级课程中开设专业导论课的探索

在金属材料工程专业低年级本科生中尝试开设了《表面技术概论》的课程,教学实践表明,开设该课程有利于学生了解专业,激发学习专业课的兴趣,并对以后学习专业及专业基础课有良好的导向作用。探索在本科低年级课程中开设专业课导论讲座对教学质量的提高、学生素质培养有积极意义。     

无机离子性盐类溶解性的热力学研究

离子性盐类溶解性的问题是无机化学教学中的一个难点,一般运用离子极化和化学键理论予以定性的解释,过于粗浅;运用化学热力学的方法就离子性盐类溶解性的问题进行分析研究,从宏观上定量的或半定量的分析讨论,可以引导学生将宏观的热力学数据与微观的结构因素联系起来,从而使学生对离子性盐类溶解性的问题有比较深刻的理解,其效果远比只从微观所作的定性解释更能令人信服。     

杯芳烃的配位热力学研究进展

杯芳烃作为第三代超分子主体化合物,近20年来引起了广泛的研究.由于杯芳烃的研究领域十分广泛,为更深入全面地理解杯芳烃的结构、选择性的关系和起源,为合成更为有效的杯芳烃受体,本文仅就杯芳烃母体、上下缘修饰杯芳烃和阴阳离子、中性有机分子的配位作用的热力学行为及应用的相关技术进行述评.     

无机化学中状态函数概念的讲解

从热力学第一定律的数学表达式出发,综述了状态函数概念的内涵及特征,总结出判断一个函数是否为"状态函数"的准则。紧扣状态函数的特征,以定义实例和计算实例两种教学方式使学生能准确判断一个函数是否为"状态函数"。说明了状态函数概念的应用。     

工程热力学课程在过程装备与控制工程专业中的教学方法探究

工程热力学课程是过程装备与控制工程专业主干必修课,在后续专业课程学习和工作实践中发挥着重要的作用。传统的工程热力学的教学过程存在教学过程理论联系实际不紧密、考试形式不能体现对知识的应用能力、考试形式单一等问题。本文立足过程装备与控制专业发展需要和提高课程教学质量,针对教学中出现的问题,通过对一系列教学方式进行实践探索,以期培养学生的创新开拓能力,促进教与学的有机衔接,从而实现良好的教学效果。     

Towards the improvement of the student experience of assessment and feedback in construction management education

It is widely accepted across Higher Education that assessment practices have a link with learning and a key factor in this link is formative assessment. Formative assessment is generally defined as taking place during a module/programme with the express purpose of improving and enhancing student learning. It is important to understand how lecturers in construction engineering education perceive their own roles and the roles of their students in using effective assessment strategies. An investigation into lecturers’ perceptions of their roles and their conceptions related to the assessment process of students in those programmes is reported. An on-line survey was conducted with over 30 Irish academics involved in the area of construction management. Discussion is focused on a critical evaluation of the findings of the study and how it relates to the current literature on the roles of academics in the formative assessment process. Recommendations are made on how lecturers/teachers might better formulate appropriate assessment strategies that will encourage deep and effective learning.     

热力学第一定律的教学探讨

热力学第一定律是热学、工程热力学、大学化学等课程中非常重要的内容,针对学生对热力学第一定律掌握困难的问题,本文提出了一种有效确定该定律中物理量正负号及其数值正负号的方法,并对该方法的运用进行了详细阐述。通过课堂教学实践,学生对该定律的掌握和理解得到了很大提升,起到了很好的教学效果。     

教学中几类熵变问题的计算和探讨

熵是物理学中的一个重要概念。对热力学不可逆过程中熵变的计算方法进行了讨论,以气体膨胀、热传导、物体加热冷却、气体混合等过程为例分析了熵变的计算方法。对教学中学生理解熵的概念和熵变的计算起到了一定的作用。     

The effectiveness of problem-based learning on teaching the first law of thermodynamics

Background: Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching approach working in cooperation with self-learning and involving research to solve real problems. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but that energy is conserved. Students had difficulty learning or misconceptions about this law. This study is related to the teaching of the first law of thermodynamics within a PBL environment.

Purpose: This study examined the effectiveness of PBL on candidate science teachers’ understanding of the first law of thermodynamics and their science process skills. This study also examined their opinions about PBL.

Sample: The sample consists of 48 third-grade university students from the Department of Science Education in one of the public universities in Turkey.

Design and methods: A one-group pretest–posttest experimental design was used. Data collection tools included the Achievement Test, Science Process Skill Test, Constructivist Learning Environment Survey and an interview with open-ended questions. Paired samples t-test was conducted to examine differences in pre/post tests.

Results: The PBL approach has a positive effect on the students’ learning abilities and science process skills. The students thought that the PBL environment supports effective and permanent learning, and self-learning planning skills. On the other hand, some students think that the limited time and unfamiliarity of the approach impede learning.

Conclusions: The PBL is an active learning approach supporting students in the process of learning. But there are still many practical disadvantages that could reduce the effectiveness of the PBL. To prevent the alienation of the students, simple PBL activities should be applied from the primary school level. In order to overcome time limitations, education researchers should examine short-term and effective PBL activities.     

热力学熵概念教学浅谈

热力学熵[1]的概念是抽象的,初学者要较好的掌握该概念是比较困难的。笔者结合多年的教学经验认为,应从本文中的四个方面入手进行教学,引导学生构建热力学熵的概念。     

化工热力学多媒体教学的实践与思考

在化工热力学中合理地利用多媒体技术,能够解决化工热力学教学中的许多难题,提高学生的学习兴趣,增加教学信息量,加快专业发展,大大促进了教学效果的提高。     

Qualitatively different ways of experiencing student self‐assessment

In the literature, student self‐assessment as a practice and as a goal in higher education is generally emphasized for academics. This paper reports a study that investigates what academics emphasize in their experiences of student self‐assessment. The investigation focused on the different ways academics described their understanding and practise of self‐assessment. A phenomenographic approach was used to research and identify a set of progressive variations of academics’ ways of experiencing student self‐assessment. Altogether, 16 academics from a variety of disciplines and programs of study in three Australian universities participated in the investigation. The consequent research findings describe five qualitatively different conceptions that depict how academics understand and use student self‐assessment. These findings are subsequently discussed in terms of the potential for academics to understand and use student self‐assessment to enhance students’ self‐assessment ability, to further students’ lifelong learning and to empower, rather than discipline, students.     

化工热力学教学的实践与体会

为适应新世纪人才的要求,根据化工热力学课程内容的特点,在教学过程中调整课程结构,合理组织教学内容,注重教烫学方法的研究,着重培养学生独立分析和解决热力学问题的能力.     

Josiah Willard Gibbs

The foundations of classical thermodynamics, as taught in textbooks today, were laid down in nearly complete form by Josiah Willard Gibbs more than a century ago. This article presents a portrait of Gibbs, a quiet and modest man who was responsible for some of the most important advances in the history of science. V Kumaran is a professor of chemical engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. His research interests include statistical mechanics and fluid mechanics.