TY - JOUR
T1 - Interdisciplinary Lessons on Energy and Entropy
AU - Munakata, Mika
AU - Vaidya, Ashwin
AU - Vanderklein, Dirk
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 National Science Teaching Association.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - This article presents ideas and narratives of an experiment on the concept of energy developed for an honors seminar on energy and a mechanics course. We argue that energy is an idea best taught in an interdisciplinary manner. While most physics courses explore ideas such as mechanical energy and conservation of energy, it is imperative that a more practical view of energy as fuel be addressed since this has particular relevance to our students ’future. We believe energy cannot be discussed without talking about entropy and that a proper introduction to energy can only be made by simultaneously discussing the idea of entropy. In this article, we present one lab activity related to carbon emissions from bicycling, designed to help elucidate this idea through the use of conceptual metaphors and embodied learning. The learning goals of the activity were to encourage students to understand that energy and entropy are intricately related and to have students gain a deeper understanding of the concepts by considering and discussing ways in which they apply to different contexts. We discuss the rationale, implementation, and outcomes of the activity.
AB - This article presents ideas and narratives of an experiment on the concept of energy developed for an honors seminar on energy and a mechanics course. We argue that energy is an idea best taught in an interdisciplinary manner. While most physics courses explore ideas such as mechanical energy and conservation of energy, it is imperative that a more practical view of energy as fuel be addressed since this has particular relevance to our students ’future. We believe energy cannot be discussed without talking about entropy and that a proper introduction to energy can only be made by simultaneously discussing the idea of entropy. In this article, we present one lab activity related to carbon emissions from bicycling, designed to help elucidate this idea through the use of conceptual metaphors and embodied learning. The learning goals of the activity were to encourage students to understand that energy and entropy are intricately related and to have students gain a deeper understanding of the concepts by considering and discussing ways in which they apply to different contexts. We discuss the rationale, implementation, and outcomes of the activity.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178943192&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0047231X.2022.12290576
DO - 10.1080/0047231X.2022.12290576
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85178943192
SN - 1943-4898
VL - 51
SP - 10
EP - 15
JO - Journal of College Science Teaching
JF - Journal of College Science Teaching
IS - 5
ER -