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At the 2014 and 2015 Annual ASEE conferences, the author presented papers on a completely restructured engineering physics - mechanics course. The traditional physics course structure, consisting of a separate lecture (3 hrs three times per week), laboratory (3 hrs once a week) and recitation (1.5 hours once a week), was discarded in favor of a single, blended class meeting 2.5 hours three times per week. Moreover, the new class was designed to operate as a fully active learning course (i.e. without any lecture) by making use of several active learning methods including peer instruction (aka think-pair-share) and interactive, peer laboratories. The restructured course was assessed using the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) assessment test, given on the first and last days of class. Results from the FCI test show that the overall gain in performance increased from 12% to 33% as a result of the combined effects of these changes. Additionally, the overall pass rate for the course (grade of "C" or better) increased from 53% to 75%. While these results are very positive, it is productive to explore the longer-term effects of this restructuring. In particular, did the students taking the restructured course do better in the follow-on courses (E&M Physics, Statics, and Dynamics) than the students who took the course in its original format? Alternately, does the increased gain on the FCI test result in better conceptual understanding that carries through to future uses of the material? The author has collected data to explore this by tracking the performance of five year's worth of students (a total of about 400 students) that took the course in the restructured format as compared to a similar number of students that took the course in the original format. The performance of those two groups of students in follow-on courses has been analyzed and shows improved performance (overall grades and pass rates) in the follow-on courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluid Mechanics can seem particularly non-intuitive to the typical student. For example, most students will tell you that if velocity increases, the pressure also increases. Misconceptions such as these can be difficult for students to overcome. Multiple types of exposure to each topic, such as lecture, problem solving, and reading assignments can help, but demonstrations add another type of exposure that is not only informative and visual, but also enjoyable. Demonstrations during a lecture period can increase attentiveness and give the students a "feel" for the topic, helping them actually believe the concept that they are learning. These demos also provide an excellent memory point for the students to reference when they need to use the concept to solve a problem. Additionally, since both the instructor and student have experienced the demo together, the instructor can allude to the demo in order to help correct a misconception. By reminding the student of a demonstration, both student and professor have a starting point for discussion. This paper describes in detail over 30 demonstrations and videos that can be used to improve student understanding and to increase interest in the various topics associated with fluid mechanics. Demonstrations and videos have been developed for all of the topics covered in a typical fluid mechanics course including hydrostatics, viscosity, control volume analysis, similarity, Navier-Stokes solutions, pipe flow, minor losses, and external flow. Most of the demonstrations are inexpensive and were homemade by the authors and their students; most videos are readily available on YouTube.com. The paper reviews each of the demos/videos, discuss how they are incorporated into the class, and describe how to fabricate/procure the demo equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past several years an engineering physics (mechanics) course has been completely restructured. Prior to the restructuring, the course had a traditional structure, consisting of a separate lecture (3 hours three times per week), laboratory (3 hours once a week) and recitation (1.5 hours once a week). Beginning in 2009, the traditional structure was discarded in favor of a single, blended class meeting 2.5 hours three times per week. Moreover, the new class was designed to operate as an active learning course (i.e. with very little lecture) by making use of several active learning methods including peer instruction (aka think-pair-share) and interactive peer laboratories. The implementation of the active learning methods was done in phases over several years and each phase was assessed using the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) assessment test, administered on the first and last days of class. Results from the FCI test, collected over a six-year period, show that the overall gain in performance has tripled as a result of the combined effects of the changes. The results also show that both active learning methods (peer instruction and interactive laboratories), which were phased in at different times, improved the student's conceptual gain. To support the restructured active learning course, the author developed an active learning textbook that consists of nearly a thousand peer instruction questions and over thirty interactive laboratories, many of which are multi-part. This paper focuses on the development and implementation of the interactive laboratories. It covers the educational benefits of the interactive laboratories and describes how they are incorporated into the class. The paper summarizes all of the interactive laboratories that have been developed thus far. It also presents the complete details for a single, representative interactive lab, to illustrate how the interactive labs are performed. Lastly, the paper presents the FCI data that show the conceptual gains obtained by the interactive labs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incrementally, over the past five years, an engineering physics (mechanics) course has been completely restructured by combining the previously separate lecture, laboratory, and recitation components into a single, integrated learning environment. Moreover, many active learning components have been incorporated into the class. These include interactive laboratories, peer instruction, and use of electronic clickers. These changes have been made in phases over several years and each change was assessed using the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) assessment test, given on the first and last days of class. Results from the Force Concept Inventory test show that the overall gain in performance has tripled as a result of the combined effects of these changes. Additionally, course grades show that the overall pass rate for the course has increased by over ten percentage points. This paper describes the restructuring of the course to integrate the lecture, lab, and recitation components. It also covers how the traditional laboratories have been replaced with interactive laboratories and includes methodologies and best practices. The paper addresses the peer instruction method (also known as think-pair-share) including formation of concept questions and best practices. Five years worth of pre- and post-class assessment data are presented and show that significant performance gains were achieved as each of the elements (blended lecture and lab, interactive laboratories, and peer instruction) were incorporated. Lastly, the paper describes the current initiative to remove the remaining lecture component from the course, making the class completely active. This will be accomplished through the creation of videos covering the day's technical content that students must watch prior to class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]