Open Inquiry Investigations on Heat Transfer Performed by Undergraduate Engineering Students

Many researches have shown the pedagogical effectiveness of structured inquiry as a high performance tool in science education of undergraduate engineering students. In this paper we report the preliminary results of an extended investigation on the efficacy of the application of an open inquiry approach to the consolidation of the physics concepts regarding the topic of thermal energy transfer. We selected a sample of undergraduate mechanical engineering students, who passed the examination of the basic physics courses with good marks. Firstly, we investigated about resistant misconceptions in thermal physics by administrating a pre-activity questionnaire. Even the best marked students showed several deficiencies for what concerns, in particular, the practical knowledge of the physics of energy exchange by thermal radiation. Our open inquiry activity involved the students in a highly challenging learning environment, starting from the problem of projecting a thermodynamically efficient space base on Mars. Students were asked to work in groups and to perform scientific investigations regarding the best materials to use in the construction and the best design strategies to practice in order to collect as much thermal energy as possible during the Martian day. Students were stimulated to design and carry out their own laboratory activity by collecting, processing and analysing data, in order to discover new concepts and obtain more meaningful conceptual understanding of the physics underlying the process of thermal energy exchange by conduction, convection and radiation. All groups of students were invited to share the results of their explorative works within each other during the final discussion. Lastly, a final post-activity evaluation test was administered. Our open inquiry learning path has proved to be a great opportunity of enhancing the practical and reasoning skills of our engineering students. Here we discuss in detail the advantages and limits of the open inquiry-based teaching approach.