Meniscus interface etching of silicon in KOH in a hands-on introductory course in MEMS

This study examines the interest, motivation, and behavioral engagement of college students in an introductory course relative to three instructional formats used in the course: hands-on, problem-based laboratory stations; problem-based written case studies; and video lectures. Groups of five to seven students were assigned learning activities as treatments in a Latin Square design consisting of three experimental periods. At the beginning of selected laboratory sessions, students completed 10 minutes of the experimental activity immediately followed by a questionnaire. Students rated hands-on, problem-based laboratory stations as more challenging, novel, and attention-grabbing than they rated case studies or video lectures. Interest, intrinsic motivation, and behavioral engagement were greatest for groups completing laboratory stations followed by those completing case studies and lectures, respectively. Overall, the greater situational interest experienced during laboratory stations and case studies indicates that these activities can be leveraged to create learning environments that promote interest, engagement, and achievement.

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An Introductory Course in Thermal Fluid Engineering

10.1115/imece2000-1399 ◽

2000 ◽

Author(s):

I. Sorensen ◽

M. Ellis ◽

C. Dancey ◽

B. Vick ◽

D. Jaasma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Fluid Mechanics ◽

Team Teaching ◽

Mechanical Engineering ◽

Engineering Faculty ◽

Organizational Skills ◽

Introductory Course ◽

Faculty Teaching ◽

Laboratory Report ◽

Hands On

Abstract Experiences related to a new sophomore level course, “Introduction to Thermal Fluid Engineering,” are described. Several hundred students have taken the course and are currently enrolled in the follow-on courses in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. The introductory course is structured as a two-hour per week lecture with a laboratory that meets three times during the semester. Although thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer subjects are introduced sequentially during the course, the overlap and inter-relationships between topics are emphasized. It has been beneficial both for students and the faculty teaching the course to see the bigger picture of the three courses as a whole rather than as separate topics. The open laboratories are manned by a graduate student or senior who guides the students through hands-on experiments. Each of the three simple experiments is designed to illustrate important principles and reinforce the computational skills of the students. A web site has been established to help guide the students in preparing the written portion of the laboratory report. Team teaching of some sections has been tried and compared to the standard one teacher per section approach. Feedback from the students indicated a surprising acceptance of having several teachers for a course when they were well coordinated. One advantage mentioned by the students was to introduce them to more of the mechanical engineering faculty early in their studies. Because this is the first course requiring engineering analysis taught by the mechanical engineering faculty, it provides the opportunity to direct them in their problem solving and organizational skills that will be useful throughout the rest of their courses. Student evaluations are included as part of the results presented.

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Design and evaluation of the I-SCAN faculty POCUS program

BMC Medical Education ◽

10.1186/s12909-020-02453-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Michael Janjigian ◽

Anne Dembitzer ◽

Caroline Srisarajivakul-Klein ◽

Khemraj Hardower ◽

Deborah Cooke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Training Programs ◽

Point Of Care ◽

Point Of Care Ultrasound ◽

Median Score ◽

Introductory Course ◽

Hands On ◽

Before And After ◽

Online Feedback ◽

Passing Score ◽

Longitudinal Phase

Abstract Background Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is becoming widely adopted with increasing accessibility of courses. Little is known about the optimal design of the introductory course or longitudinal training programs targeting hospitalists that are critical to success. Methods Hospitalists at four academic sites participated in a two-day introductory course and a longitudinal phase comprising clinical POCUS practice, clip uploading with online feedback, hands-on teaching, and monthly ultrasound conferences. Assessments were performed immediately before and after the two-day course and after 1 year. Results Knowledge increased from baseline to post two-day course (median score 58 and 85%, respectively, p < 0.001) and decreased slightly at 1 year (median score 81%, p = 0.012). After the two-day introductory course, the median score for hands-on image acquisition skills, the principal metric of participant success, was 75%. After 1 year, scores were similar (median score 74%). Confidence increased from baseline to post two-day course (1.5 to 3.1 on a 4 point Likert scale from Not at all confident (1) to Very confident (4), p < 0.001), and remained unchanged after 1 year (2.73). Course elements correlating with a passing score on the final hands-on test included number of clip uploads (r = 0.85, p,0.001), attendance at hands-on sessions (r = 0.7, p = 0.001), and attendance at monthly conferences (r = 0.50, p = 0.03). Conclusions The I-ScaN POCUS training program increased hospitalist knowledge, skill and confidence with maintained skill and confidence after 1 year. Uploading clips and attending hands-on teaching sessions were most correlative with participant success.

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