(260h) Interactive Self-Study Modules for Chemical Engineering Education

Retention of diverse students in STEM disciplines has emerged as a major goal for educational research and tool development. There is a major need for modular resources that can be used to help students catch up on key concepts or as enabling components of active learning approaches that enhance student learning. In this presentation, we will introduce the use of interactive self-study modules (ISSMs) and discuss our investigations into how these modules can be designed to assist student self-directed learning. These web-based ISSMs are used either as part of a flipped classroom approach or for students to use on their own; each takes approximately one hour to complete.
These modules incorporate approaches that have been shown to increase student learning. The ISSMs contain the following elements: (i) an overview that describes the goals of the module and lists pre-requisites; (ii) formative assessment using conceptual questions (ConcepTests) and problems; (iii) short introductory screencasts with embedded questions; (iv) lists of important equations; (v) interactive simulations with questions asking students to predict system behavior; (vi) an interactive quiz-yourself simulation that requires student input in a complex problem solution; (vii) example problems with screencast solutions; (viii) ConcepTests for summative assessment; and (ix) a summary with problem answers and a list of what students should be able to do after completing the module. The ISSMs, which are freely available on learncheme.com, are part of an overall approach to incorporate frequent self-testing (active retrieval) and active learning as evidence-based teaching methods.