1. Experiences in Thermodynamics

2. Traditional Course Structure Changes each year starting Spring 2013
Overview
Traditional Course Structure
Changes each year starting Spring 2013
What worked, what didn’t
Things that surprised me
Assessment
Future Plans

3. Traditional Course Structure
Lecture on deriving equations, introducing/explaining concepts, working some examples
Problem-based graded homework assignments, typically due weekly
Two to three exams plus a final

4. Problems with Traditional Structure
Lecture
Sleeping students
Can’t tell which parts of notes help solve the problems
Homework
Cheating – experience with Fluids and Heat Transfer also
Surprise: Students still copy solution manuals even though getting the homework correct doesn’t improve their grade. It’s more about the time required to do the homework than the grade itself.
Late night work
Grading
Delayed / Ignored Feedback
Exams
One night of studying is not enough for the material

5. Thermo Spring 2013 – Initial Structure
Flipped the course
Notes and Fill-ins – one Packet for each “Quizzam”
pre- and post- quizzes in notes
Moved class location to a lab with tables that groups could sit around
In-class: Students were to fill in notes, ask questions, work homework problems
Homework solutions were posted
Made the course self-paced
14 Quizzams ( 1 per week) plus final
Could finish before the semester was up
Deadlines for each Quizzam

6. Spring 2013 the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
14 Quizzams meant more study time, and I could assess more topics
Some got ahead at beginning
Bad
Shy and unmotivated students get less attention
Social hour
Some students are just not motivated to work on their own
Ugly
Petition
Complaints – “not teaching”
Only one student finished before the end of the semester

7. Changes Mid-Semester Spring 2013
Made fill-ins due on Mondays for bonus points if they did them (one week worth of notes)
Added weekly summary lectures with examples (Monday) followed by active problem-solving
Surprise: I found summary lectures much more useful than normal lectures. They were much more to the point.
Gave out old exams or made new “Practice Quizzams” on Wednesday for students to work in class
Surprise Student Attitude: Homework is a chore to be avoided if possible, but “Practice Quizzams” give away clues about what will be on the Quizzams and are much appreciated.

8. Assessment (Grades plus 2 Surveys)
Although many students disliked the initial format, only 4 or 5 out of 44 students complained about it at the end.
Grades improved and learning in several of the topics exceeded my expectations
I attribute this mainly to the 14 quizzams
Student confidence in their abilities increased

9. Spring 2014
Removed the self-paced aspect
Went back to the normal classroom so I could easily give weekly summary lectures (I call the course “half-flipped.”)
Instead of 4 bonus points for filling in notes, +3 bonus if filled in, -2 penalty if not.
Surprise: Addition of the penalty greatly improved compliance.
I became more pro-active about helping students who haven’t asked for help. This helped the poorer and shier students who are hesitant to ask questions.
Otherwise similar to the end of 2013
Part way through semester, added in-class worksheets with shorter, introductory problems
Revelation from watching students try problems: In engineering, we have a tendency to assign big multi-topic problems before students have mastered basic skills. This is intimidating for them and we should start with small problems and build from there. This can help alleviate that fear of big word problems.

10. Assessment
Only 2 or 3 out of 46 hated the format by the end of the semester.
Some students reported that they were “mindlessly” filling in the notes and the notes didn’t do them any good.
Students would like me to work out more examples in class
Grading 14 exams for 46 students is too much for me and sometimes having weekly exams can be overwhelming for the students. Some are useless before and after a quizzam.

11. Fall 2014 – Fluid Mechanics Course
Half-flipped it like Thermo
Added notes quizzes instead of checking if they filled in the notes. The students were allowed to fill in a 4 x 6 index card with whatever they wanted and could use it on the quiz.
Surprise: By half way through the semester, about of a third of the students thought they could “wing” the quiz and never even looked at the notes before class.
I removed the quizzes and went back to checking notes – my thoughts were that even if they were “mindlessly” filling them in, at least they were filling them in.

12. Spring Thermo
Structure: Students fill in smaller portion of notes before each class. We’d start with a notes quiz, then most days had a short summary lecture followed by worksheets with small problems and then the students worked on “quizlets.” There were suggested homework problems as well. I still call it half-flipped.
Notes Quiz: Boxed in sections of the notes and told them to memorize these. Gave a quiz on the boxed parts. I also checked to see if they filled in the notes and gave 50% of the quiz grade for filling in. “Way-back Wednesdays”
Surprise: Students try harder if they know exactly what they need to know / do rather than have to guess. There was much less “winging” it than when they filled out their own note cards.
Reduced the number of “Quizzams” to seven to reduce grading, reduce stress on the students, and take less class time.
“U B Closed, Baby” and “Ahhhh, it’s a Cahntrol Vahlume”
Offered special review session for the failing students – no one took me up on it.

13. Spring 2015 continued… Quizlets
Moved to a computer lab and added Moodle “Quizlets.” These quizlets were to be started during class and contained a lot of short problems that would allow the students to master the skills before attempting the bigger problems. The “bribe” was bonus points on the notes quiz. Since notes quizzes were worth a total of 5% in the class, the bonus points were actually worth very little.
These quizlets took a lot of time to create.

14. Spring 2015 continued… Quizlets continued
Surprises:
Students really hate getting the answer wrong in Moodle quizzes (they receive a pink box instead of green).
Double- and triple-checking their answers became commonplace
Students were more likely to go back and check their units
Since I told them the significant figures to use in their answers, they became better at determining which digits are significant
Instant feedback is very much appreciated
Even though students seem to understand the topics during a lecture or while doing examples, they many times can’t get started on even the simple problems. I have to repeat the same concepts many times before they actually sink in and they usually have to make the same mistake several times before they really get it.
Later in the semester, the promise of bonus points on notes quizzes became less of a motivator and the quizlet completion rate dropped off
Side Note: Scratch-off forms are an alternative to Moodle quizzes for instant feedback ($110 for 500)

15. Spring 2015 continued… Threats
Since finding properties is key to almost all Thermo problems, I told the students that they would have to get a score of 90% on the parts of two quizzams that covered finding properties. If they didn’t get 90%, they had to keep retaking that portion of the quizzam until they got the 90%.
Surprise: On the first quizzam 45 out of 48 got 90% or above and 34 out of 48 on the second quizzam (Note that their were time issues on the second). The normal average on these types of problems is around 65%-75%. All were able to find the properties by the second try. Fear of having to repeat a portion of the test was a great motivator.

16. Survey after 2nd Quizzam: 90% Requirement on Properties
Asked if this caused them to learned it Better:
Yes  32
No  15
Two said it made the quizzam more stressful

18. Note that there was a small shift away from lecture and towards active learning.

19. Suggested Changes – Most common answers
Early survey End of semester
Don’t require us to fill out notes 
Make the notes shorter 
Fewer notes examples 
Add videos 
More in-class examples 
More lecture 
Skip summary lecture 
Fewer / Shorter Quizlets 
Add graded homework 
Full period for quizzams

20. Other Assessment / Comparison By Semester
Number of Withdraws/Fails (Ws, 0s, 1s)
2012 (trad. with recitation): 4 out of 41 (3 chronic)
2013: 8 out of 44 (3 chronic)
2014: 5 out of 45 (3 finally passed)
2015: 6 out of 48
Number of 4s
2012: 6 out of 41
2013: 8 out of 44
2014: 5 out of 45
2015: 14 out of 48

21. Grades (Avg with 0s,1s, 4s removed)
Other Assessment
Grades (Avg with 0s,1s, 4s removed)
2012: (traditional)
2013: (increased active learning)
2014: 2.57
2015: (Moodle quizlets / 90% requirement)

22. Plans for Next Year Benchmark Testing
Video lectures with Moodle open-notes quiz instead of in-class notes quiz (from Jessi Fautch – make the last question be something like “What concepts or calculations confused you?”)
Reduce summary lecture time (assuming video lectures are better)
Find multiple motivators for quizlets, including a penalty
Keep 7 Quizzams

23. Plans for Next Year Continued …
Keep giving in-class Practice Quizzams
Do an early-semester survey again
Increase the number of quizlets
Use grade statistics to show the students improvement with active learning
Add “Lie of the Day”
Come up with more stupid sayings
Add one or two other punishment-type motivators