Video-Inspired, Student-Written Problems vs Textbook Problems: Comparing Difficulty and Problem-Solving Skills between Two Cohorts in Chemical Engineering

• Published in: Journal of chemical education 2023-06, Vol.100 (6), p.2190-2196
• Main Authors: Asogwa, Uchenna, Duckett, T. Ryan, Malefyt, Amanda P., Stevens, Lindsey, Mentzer, Gale, Liberatore, Matthew W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemical engineering; Cohort analysis; College students; Effect Size; Energy balance; Engineering education; Homework; Methods Research; Microbalances; Mixed methods research; Problem solving; Skills; Student Problems; Students; Taskload; Teaching methods; Textbooks; Undergraduate Students; Undergraduate study
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c01062

Complex problem solving is one of the skills desired in the 21st century workforce. Students can improve their problem-solving skills by working on homework problems, and creating new problems can be a stimulating and inventive exercise for student as well. Our previous studies explored the impacts of a novel homework pedagogy where students reverse-engineered videos to create course-related homework-quality problems. The present study investigated differences in problem difficulty and student problem-solving ability across two cohorts when solving video-inspired student-written (VISW) problems versus Textbook problems. The current study deployed similar mixed methods research on an additional cohort of undergraduate students in an engineering course focused on material and energy balances to verify and reproduce previous results. For each cohort, findings were drawn from ∼2000 task-load surveys and ∼2500 problem solving scores compiled by multiple raters. In general, outcomes for the second cohort replicated previous findings. The student-written problems were perceived equally as difficult as the Textbook problems. PROCESS scores from the Treatment group revealed better problem-solving skills when students solved VISW than Textbook problems. Students in the Treatment group displayed an increase in problem-solving ability across the ∼4-month long course with small to medium effect sizes (Hedges g = 0.6 and 0.1). Additionally, students in the Treatment group exhibited better problem-solving skills on the most difficult VISW problems compared to the most difficult Textbook problems.