(588g) Integrating Abstracts of Homework Problem Solutions Into a Material Balances Course

This presentation will discuss the integration of writing abstracts for homework problems into a course on material balances.  Students were assigned traditional weekly homework assignments which consisted of problems assigned from the course textbook.  Students completed the assignments in teams of three and submitted one solution per team.  However, in addition, each individual student was required to write an abstract for each problem.  In the abstracts, students summarized the purpose of the problem, the system under consideration, the known and unknown information and the solution procedure.  There were two purposes to assigning the abstracts.  First, it was hypothesized that requiring students to write about their problem solutions in a reflective way could foster a more thorough understanding of the processes being modeled, and instill in students a conscious recognition of effective problem-solving strategies.  Second, it was hypothesized that the abstracts would provide an effective tool for assessing individual contributions to the team assignments.  The authors will present an assessment of the impact of the abstracts on the Fall 2012 course.  Assessment will include a comparison to the Fall 2011 students, who completed comparable homework problems in teams of the same size, but who were not required to write abstracts.  The abstracts will be used again in the Fall 2013 offering of the course and the presentation will discuss lessons learned and changes implemented for Fall 2013.