the AIChE Concept Warehouse - VOLUME 4 NUMBER 1 - winter 2014

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rizky

The paper presents the AIChE Concept Warehouse, a web-based instructional tool that supports chemical engineering faculty in delivering concept-based instruction. It provides access to 2,000+ concept questions and 10 concept inventories aligned with core chemical engineering curricula. Faculty can use the content for in-class ConcepTests, standalone concept inventories, and assignments or exams through online or offline formats. The authors emphasize versatility across teaching philosophies and highlight perceived gains in student engagement and learning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages27

Reading Time1 h 8 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Overview

Concept-based Pedagogy

| Ad | vances in Engineering Edu | cation | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | VOLUME 4 NUMBER 1 – wiNtER 2014 the AiChE Concept warehouse: A web-Based tool to Promote Concept-Based instruction MILO D. KORETSKY Oregon State University Corvallis, OR JOHN L. FALCONER University of Colorado, Boulder Boulder, CO BILL J. BROOKS DEBRA M. GILBUENA Oregon State University Corvallis, OR DAVID L. SILVERSTEIN University of Kentucky Paducah, KY CHRISTINA SMITH Oregon State University Corvallis, OR AND MARINA MILETIC Independent Consultant Albuquerque, NM ABStrACt This paper describes theAIChE Concept Warehouse, a recently developed web-based instructional tool that enables faculty within the discipline of chemical engineering to better provide their students concept-based instruction. It currently houses over 2,000 concept questions and 10 concept inventories pertinent to courses throughout the core chemical engineering curriculum. These questions are available for faculty use both as in-class concept-based clicker questions (or ConcepTests) and standalone concept inventories, and can be accessed in various formats (online or offline) for use in class and on assignments and exams. The design philosophy is to make the tool versatile so that it can be used in the way that best fits with the instructor’s teaching philosophy and the program’s educational environment. Instructors and students perceive it to catalyze engagement and promote learning. While winter 2014 1 advances in engineering education theAIChE Concept Warehouse domain specificity is critical to the targeted development of tools like the one we describe, we argue that the computer-based approach is generic and could be applied to any engineering discipline. One objective in describing this tool and characterizing our experiences using it is to contribute to such wider adaptation. Key Words: educational technology; interactive learning environments; teaching/learning strategies intrODUCtiOn Overview Many engineering educators and industry partners emphasize the need for students to apply their knowledge to new and challenging problems (Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century, 2005) . In order to do so, students must learn with understanding (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999). A lack of conceptual understanding has been shown to severely restrict students’ ability to solve new problems, since they do not have the foundational understanding to use their knowledge in new situations (Hestenes, Wells, & Swackhamer, 1992) . However, science and engineering classrooms often reward students more for rote learning than for conceptual understanding (Elby, 1999; Felder & Brent, 2005) . There is clearly a need for more emphasis on conceptual understanding. In this paper, we refer to conceptbased instruction as the use of pedagogies and corresponding learning activities whose primary objectives are to make students aware of their need for conceptual understanding and then foster that understanding. The effectiveness of many forms of concept-based instruction depends critically on the availability of high-quality concept questions. These questions can be time-consuming and difficult to construct, posing one of the biggest barriers to implementing this type of pedagogy (Beatty, Gerace, Leonar, & Dufresne, 2006; Crouch, Watkins, Fagen, & Mazur, 2007; Fagen, Crouch, & Mazur, 2002) . As Kay & LaSage (2009, p. 824) state in their review of the recent literature,“Unfortunately there are very few collections of ARS (i. e, audience response system or clicker) questions available in most fields, so instructors have to develop original questions, a process that is very time consuming.” The AIChE Concept Warehouse is a web-based instructional tool that decreases this barrier by housing concept questions pertinent to a specific discipline - chemical engineering (ChE) . This cyber-enab

FAQs

What is the AIChE Concept Warehouse and what does it provide?

It is a web-based instructional tool that offers over 2,000 concept questions and 10 concept inventories for chemical engineering courses.

How can faculty use the concept questions?

They can be used as in-class ConcepTests or as stand-alone concept inventories, and can be accessed in online or offline formats for class and assessments.

Why do the authors argue for a concept-based approach in engineering education?

Concept-based instruction helps address limited conceptual understanding, which otherwise restricts students’ ability to solve new problems in unfamiliar situations.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rizky