{"title":"Developing middle school students’ problem-solving ability through interdisciplinary project-based learning","authors":"Yizhou Ling , Limin Zhou , Beining Zhang , Hongyan Ren","doi":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.11.001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Problem-solving ability is one of the most important skills of Chemical engineers. This case study aims to describe how students develop problem-solving ability in interdisciplinary project-based learning activity. 7 groups of middle school students participate in a one-month “home-made oxygenators” project, designing and producing oxygenators that meet the situational requirements by themselves, and showcase their production. Project task handouts, chat logs, student presentations, student works, contribution surveys, standardized tests, and interest questionnaire are the data sources of this study. The results show that the vast majority of student groups creatively use different principles to produce oxygenators with different functions, in which students clarify and identify problems progressively, create solutions by applying multidisciplinary knowledge, select the best solution through group argumentation, and optimize the solution in practice continuously, so that they develop the problem-solving ability throughout the whole process. Moreover, participants in the activity show more remarkable improvement in their academic performance and interest in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering compared to non-participants.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48509,"journal":{"name":"Education for Chemical Engineers","volume":"46 ","pages":"Pages 43-53"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1749772823000520/pdfft?md5=76e0da20bab168286dc2a0db0963316f&pid=1-s2.0-S1749772823000520-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Education for Chemical Engineers","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1749772823000520","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Problem-solving ability is one of the most important skills of Chemical engineers. This case study aims to describe how students develop problem-solving ability in interdisciplinary project-based learning activity. 7 groups of middle school students participate in a one-month “home-made oxygenators” project, designing and producing oxygenators that meet the situational requirements by themselves, and showcase their production. Project task handouts, chat logs, student presentations, student works, contribution surveys, standardized tests, and interest questionnaire are the data sources of this study. The results show that the vast majority of student groups creatively use different principles to produce oxygenators with different functions, in which students clarify and identify problems progressively, create solutions by applying multidisciplinary knowledge, select the best solution through group argumentation, and optimize the solution in practice continuously, so that they develop the problem-solving ability throughout the whole process. Moreover, participants in the activity show more remarkable improvement in their academic performance and interest in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering compared to non-participants.
期刊介绍:
Education for Chemical Engineers was launched in 2006 with a remit to publisheducation research papers, resource reviews and teaching and learning notes. ECE is targeted at chemical engineering academics and educators, discussing the ongoingchanges and development in chemical engineering education. This international title publishes papers from around the world, creating a global network of chemical engineering academics. Papers demonstrating how educational research results can be applied to chemical engineering education are particularly welcome, as are the accounts of research work that brings new perspectives to established principles, highlighting unsolved problems or indicating direction for future research relevant to chemical engineering education. Core topic areas: -Assessment- Accreditation- Curriculum development and transformation- Design- Diversity- Distance education-- E-learning Entrepreneurship programs- Industry-academic linkages- Benchmarking- Lifelong learning- Multidisciplinary programs- Outreach from kindergarten to high school programs- Student recruitment and retention and transition programs- New technology- Problem-based learning- Social responsibility and professionalism- Teamwork- Web-based learning