Abstract:

The power of the flipped classroom learning relies on the fact that students are introduced to new contents at home and practice working through it at school. In Chemical Engineering settings, dealing with complex matters such as Unit Operations, Chemical Reactors, etc., in the class is not always easy. Through class competitions, students may improve their predisposition to learn. Integration of mobile learning makes the classes yet more appealing and helps create a nicer atmosphere.

With all above ideas in mind, a project on Educative Innovation was implemented by a group of Chemical Engineering educators from Higher Education institutions from three different countries. The class was divided into two groups. All the students were provided with materials, on two selected contents, for them to read at home. Pre-evaluation multiple choice tests were created with the “Quizizz” student engagement platform (https://quizizz.com/). Each group of students was able to test their knowledge on one assigned content in a healthy class competition from their own cell phones. Best players were rewarded, thereby all the students endeavored to win. Upon finalization of the tests, the lecturers reviewed the questions with the class, placing especial emphasis on those which the students most failed. All students were then asked to complete an overall final assessment test.

In general, it was found that the students performed better than in previous years when traditional master classes constrained the students-teacher interaction. There was a common perception that competition made the students get involved all the way through. The key of the strategy was most probably that the class focused basically on clarifying the fundamentals through the analysis of wrong answers, and providing the students with guidance on how to identify more easily the right answers. Explanations were provided such that the students were taught to discard wrong answers and discern more easily between two a priori potentially correct answers. Such an approach reinforced understanding, and helped the students to get engaged. The results were found to depend on the time the students had to internalize learning after the lecturer reviewed the quizzes in the class. However, the students’ not always performed better on that content they were initially assigned.

Keywords:

Chemical Engineering, mobile learning, flipped classroom, gamification, internationalization.