Active Learning in Engineering

Howard N. Shapiro

Mechanical Engineering Department, Iowa State University, Ames, IA

This workshop will focus on using active learning techniques to introduce concepts, develop problem-solving skills, and stimulate higher-order thinking in engineering classes. Participants will experience active learning and discuss ways in which active learning concepts can be used in their own classrooms to enhance student learning.

Bibliography

1. Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., and Smith, K.A., Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom, (1991) Edina MN: Interaction Book Company.
2. Vaill, P.B., Learning as a Way of Being, (1996) San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
3. Ercolano, V., "Learning Through Cooperation," PRISM, ASEE (November, 1994).
4. Angelo, T.A., and Cross, K.P. Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers, (1993) San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
5. Cross, K.P., "On College Teaching," Journal of Engineering Education, ASEE (January, 1993).

Professor Shapiro has taught Mechanical Engineering for over 25 years. His primary areas of interest are in thermodynamcis, industrial energy efficiency, and refrigeration and air conditioning. He is the co-author with Professor M.J. Moran of Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics, in its third edition and presently the most widely-used engineering thermodynamics text. He was co-founder, in 1993, of Project LEA/RN, a program at Iowa State involving over 40% of the engineering faculty in on-going teaching and learning groups facilitated by faculty in the College of Education. Professor Shapiro has received numerous awards, including the ASEE Meriam/Wiley Award and the Iowa Board of Regents Superior Teacher Award. For the last year, he has been the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs in the College of Engineering at Iowa State University.