E-learning tools and pedagogies for studying STEM

Abstract

The advancement of information and communication technology (ICT) in the twenty-first century enables students to be more active participants in the learning process. The course in thermodynamics is one of the disciplines whose material content comprises of real theory and practice, as well as the use of formulas. As a result, there is a need for a learning model that can assist students locate and solve issues, as well as explain their findings, in order to achieve the basic competences of the thermodynamics course. This work provides an e-learning-based educational package comprised of three programs: VOLCONTROL, which focuses on the analysis of steady-state flow devices, CarnotCycle, which analyzes reversible and irreversible processes, and CombustionUA, which studies combustion processes. The educational package was created to promote significant learning on some thermodynamic topics in undergraduate students, as well as to assist students in developing cognitive competencies such as interpreting, arguing and proposing, and interacting with various graphical user interfaces to solve relevant case studies. Furthermore, the teaching-learning activity assists learners with comprehending the impact of a certain variable on the energy and entropy behavior of the chosen systems, which is normally studied manually in a classroom. The results of the student’s tests revealed that the average grades acquired by the students in the problems utilizing the software were higher than the average grade obtained without using the software.