Keynote Speaker

Development and Use of a New Concept Inventory to Identify Misconceptions in Thermal and Transport Sciences

Ronald L. Miller
Chemical Engineering Department
Colorado School of Mines

Building on the proven success of the Force Concept Inventory, we have developed a concept inventory instrument to identify engineering student misconceptions in the thermal and transport sciences (i.e. fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mass transfer, thermodynamics).  In this presentation, I will describe the process of identifying important and robust misconceptions in these disciplines, developing multiple-choice questions which assess the presence of the misconceptions, and field testing the instrument, known at the Thermal and Transport Concept Inventory (TTCI).  Important findings about specific misconceptions based on TTCI beta test data will also be discussed in terms of relevant cognitive theories of concept formation.  As time permits, we will also discuss how concept inventories can be used for formative assessment in engineering and science classes and other potential assessment applications for these types of instruments.

Biography for Dr. Ron Miller

Ronald L. Miller is Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines where he has taught chemical engineering and interdisciplinary courses and conducted education research for over twenty years.  He has received three university-wide teaching awards and has held a Jenni teaching fellowship at CSM.  He has received the Corcoran and Wickenden awards (best papers) and the Helen Plants award (best workshop) from the American Society for Engineering Education.  His current research interests focus on assessing and repairing robust engineering student misconceptions in thermal and transport sciences.

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