Effects of a Thermal Inversion Experiment on STEM Students Learning and Application of Damped Harmonic Motion

Omar Israel González-Peña, Gustavo Morán-Soto, Rodolfo Rodríguez-Masegosa and Blas Manuel Rodríguez-Lara
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Omar Israel González-Peña: Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Avenida Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey 64849, N.L., Mexico
Gustavo Morán-Soto: Department of Basic Sciences, Instituto Tecnológico de Durango, Blvd. Felipe Pescador 1830, Nueva Vizcaya, Durango 34080, Dgo, Mexico
Rodolfo Rodríguez-Masegosa: Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Avenida Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey 64849, N.L., Mexico
Blas Manuel Rodríguez-Lara: Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Avenida Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey 64849, N.L., Mexico

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: There are diverse teaching methodologies to promote both collaborative and individual work in undergraduate physics courses. However, few educational studies seek to understand how students learn and apply new knowledge through open-ended activities that require mathematical modeling and experimentation focused on environmental problems. Here, we propose a novel home experiment to simulate the dynamics of a flue gas under temperature inversion and model it as damped harmonic motion. After designing and conducting the experiment, twenty six first year students enrolled in STEM majors answered six qualitative questions to inform us about their epistemological beliefs regarding their learning process. Their answers imply that this type of open-ended experiments may facilitate students’ understanding of physical phenomena and point to the significance of physics instructors as promoters of epistemological development. In general, students described this activity as a positive experience that helped them connect an environmental phenomenon with a fundamental physics concept.

Keywords: temperature inversion; damped harmonic motion; stem education; teaching methodologies; sustainable sevelopment goals; sustainable education; epistemology; mathematical modeling; educational innovation; higher education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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