Diffusing the ConfusingDiffusing the Confusing

RET Corps Member: Mark CaseyWorkshop Attendee Group Members: •Syed Warisi •Veronica Alexander •Sheila Rollins•Stella MuirIIT Research Mentor: Dr. Eric Brey

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. EEC-0502174. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Has he lost his marbles?

Overview of ModuleOverview of Module

• Topics Covered: – Diffusion, Diabetes, Polymers, Wound healing, Gels, Collagen,

Properties of Gels, States of Matter, Brownian Motion, Extracellular Matrix, Transport of Materials, Ethics and team behavior, Engineering, Writing Problem Statements, Identifying Prior Knowledge and Knowledge, Proteins

• Student Involvement: – Used PBL to engage students and keep inquiry student-centered.

Students were active participants.

Are you sure about this?

Pretest/Posttest Pretest/Posttest ResultsResults

Q Pretest Posttest Change Topic

1 60% 100% +40% Polymer

2 40% 33% -7% Polymer/Gel

3 53% 93% +40% Maillard Rx

4 53% 87% +34% Ethics

5 80% 87% +7% Engineering

6* 87% 73% -14% Science Inquiry

7 87% 100% +13% Diabetes

8 87% 93% +6% Ethics

9* 7% 7% 0% Scientific Inquiry

10 60% 87% +27% Diffusion/Brownian

* Topic was not covered. Question not valid.

Design ActivityDesign Activity

• Brief Description– Designer Cookies: Given a basic recipe, specifications, and

constraints, students became food engineers to design new recipes to produce sugar cookies of three different levels of “browness.”

• Lessons Learned– Engineers fill needs with new creations

– Engineers must consider specifications and constraints

– Rarely get it right the first time, may need to go back to the drawing board

– Requires an iterative process

– Must follow specifications!!!!!! (Mark has an oven to sandblast.)

They do know we’re guys, right?

InquiryInquiry• Brief Description

– Used Problem-Based Learning– Dr. Brey asked them to help him solve the problem of poor

transport in diabetic tissue in order to improve wound healing.

• Lessons Learned– Students learned to write/detail a problem statement– They learned to distinguish prior knowledge and the knowledge

they needed to gain (inquiries) to solve the problem.– They used a variety of self-teaching experiences to learn

(Demonstrations, “Ask the Expert,” Experiment, Investigate, Engineering Exercise, Text)

Huh?

EthicsEthics• Brief Description

– Hand-out prompted discussion of what ethics is, and why it is important.

– Discussed what professional codes are.– Given a Code of Ethics for Teamwork in Science Class

• Lessons Learned– Ethics are useful to bring order out of potential chaos.– Codes help finish work in a timely way.– Codes help reduce arguing/fighting.– Codes promote respect.– Codes can be used in the classroom.

Well, I know I didn’t do it!

Improvements/ Improvements/ Recommendations Recommendations

• Engineering Design– Give students two or more iterations before revealing a

successful recipe (assuming no team designs one).– Relate design errors to the need to follow the specifications

(directions).– Correlate Food Engineering to Chemistry as opposed to Culinary

Arts• Scientific Inquiry

– We ran out of time before it was covered in final debriefing.• Professional Ethics

– Provide adequate time for discussions.– Provide adequate time for student development of their own

code.• Materials

– Substitute alternatives for hands-on diffusion table (shaker cups?)

ModificationsModifications

• Elementary (K-4)– Safety concerns and time constraints call for parental

involvement for completion of the baking project. (Engineering).

– Provocative questioning leading to the topic of diabetes. (Scientific Inquiry)

– Student generated Code of Ethics for Cooperative Learning.

• Middle (5-8)• High School (9-12)