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Faculty often utilize homework problems as a means to help students practice problem solving. Recently, with textbook solutions manuals being freely available online, students are prone to copying/cheating, which can severely limit improvements in problem solving. One hypothesis is that YouTube problems could serve as alternatives to textbook problems to significantly reduce cheating and promote better problem solving. YouTube problems are student-written problems that were inspired by events in a video publicly available online. While our previous studies have showcased positive attitudes related to engineering, high engagement, and rigor of the YouTube problems, the current study examines a subset of problems related to one major course topic, namely vapor-liquid equilibrium. The cohorts include engineering students from a public university who were assigned homework problems as part of a material and energy balance course. Two constructs were explored: problem solving and perception of problem difficulty. The study adopted an established and validated rubric to quantify performance in relevant stages of problem solving, including problem identification, representation, organization, calculation, solution completion, and solution accuracy. While problem solving can be influenced by perception of problem difficulty, the widely used NASA Task Load Index was adopted to measure the problem rigor. This paper will compare textbook and YouTube problem with respect to overall problem-solving ability as well as in each stage of problem solving. Furthermore, we will investigate whether disparities exist in students’ perceptions when solving vapor-liquid equilibrium problems. 

Complex problem-solving is a vital skill prevalent to thrive in the workforce along with creativity and conceptual thinking. Homework problems allow engineering students to practice problem solving, and writing new problems can be a creative process for students. Our previous research found that implementing alternative, student-written homework problems, referred to as YouTube problems, led to better learning attitudes. YouTube problems are course related; homework-quality problems generated by reverse engineering publicly available videos. Comparing learning experiences of students solving YouTube versus Textbook problems is the focus of the current study. Impacts of solving YouTube problems are examined based on perception of difficulty as well as students’ problem-solving skills displayed by students. To enable testing, students were assigned one textbook and three YouTube problems. Perception of problem difficulty across problems was examined using the NASA Task Load Index. Additionally, problem solving aptitudes while solving homework problems was assessed using a previously validated rubric called PROCESS: Problem definition, Representing the problem, Organizing the information, Calculations, Solution completion, and Solution accuracy. A new case study compares Textbook and YouTube problems related to reacting systems with recycle, which is one of the most difficult course concepts. A correlation between problem rigor and problem solving was found. 

Problem solving is a signature skill of engineers. Incorporating videos in engineering education has potential to stimulate multi-senses and further open new ways of learning and thinking. Here, problem solving was examined on problems written by previous students that applied course concepts by reverse engineering the actions in videos. Since the videos usually come from YouTube, the student-written problems are designated YouTube problems. This research focused on examining the rigor of YouTube problems as well as students’ problem-solving skills when solving YouTube problems compared to Textbook problems. A quasi-experimental, treatment/control group design was employed, and data collected was evaluated using multiple instruments. NASA Task Load Index survey was used to collect 􏰗1200 ratings that assessed rigor of homework problems. Problem-solving ability was assessed using a previously-developed rubric with over 2600 student solutions scored. In the treatment group where students were assigned ten Textbook and nine YouTube problems, students reported an overall similarity in rigor for both YouTube and Textbook problems. Students in the treatment group displayed 􏰗6% better problem solving when completing YouTube problems compared to Textbook problems. Although higher perceptions of problem difficulty correlated with lower problem-solving ability across both groups and problem types, students in the treatment group exhibited smaller decreases in problem-solving ability as a result of increasing difficulty in the Textbook problems. Overall, student-written problems inspired by YouTube videos can easily be adapted as homework practice and possess potential benefits in enhancing students’ learning experience. Link: https://www.ijee.ie/contents/c370521.html 

Problem solving is a vital skill required to be successful in many engineering industries. One way for students to practice problem solving is through solving homework problems. However, solutions manuals for textbook problems are usually available online, and students can easily default to copying from solution manual. To address the solution manual dilemma and promote better problem-solving ability, this study utilizes novel homework problems that integrate a video component as an alternative to text-only, textbook problems. Building upon research showing visuals promote better learning, YouTube videos are reversed engineered by students to create new homework problems. Previous studies have catalogued student-written problems in a material and energy balance course, which are called YouTube problems. In this study, textbook homework problems were replaced with student-written YouTube problems. We additionally focused on examining learning attitudes after students solve YouTube problems. Data collection include attitudinal survey responses using a validated instrument called CLASS (Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey). Students completed the survey at the beginning and end of the course. Analysis compared gains in attitudes for participants in the treatment groups. Mean overall attitude of participants undergoing YouTube intervention was improved by a normalized gain factor of 0.15 with a small effect size (Hedge’s g = 0.35). Improvement was most prominent in attitudes towards personal application and relation to real world connection with normalized gain of 0.49 and small effect size (Hedge’s g = 0.38). 

Problem solving is a signature skill of engineers. Here, problem solving is employed when students apply course concepts to reverse engineer YouTube videos and solve new student-written, homework-style problems (YouTube problems). Replacing textbook problems with YouTube problems, this research focuses on examining the rigor of YouTube problems as well as students’ problem-solving skills on textbook and YouTube problems. A quasi-experimental, treatment/control group design was employed, and data was collected and evaluated using multiple instruments. First, rigor of homework problems was examined using the NASA Task Load Index. Also, problem solving was assessed using a previously-developed rubric called PROCESS Problem definition, Representing the problem, Organizing the information, Calculations, Evaluating the solution, Solution communication, and Self-assessment. PROCESS was modified to independently measure completeness and accuracy of student responses, as well as identify errors committed in material and energy balances. In the treatment group, students were assigned ten textbook problems and nine YouTube problems. In addition to obtaining an evidence-based assessment of problem solving via PROCESS, students’ learning attitudes, overall and with respect to problem solving, were measured via a self-reported survey known as Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS). Utilizing YouTube problems in classroom did not influence learning attitudes of students negatively. Students reported that YouTube problems possessed similar rigor as Textbook problems. Instead, students solving YouTube problems measured small effect size improvement in problem- solving skills. 

Problem solving is a signature skill of engineers. Here, problem solving is employed when students apply course concepts to reverse engineer YouTube videos and solve new student-written, homework-style problems (YouTube problems). Replacing textbook problems with YouTube problems, this research focuses on examining the rigor of YouTube problems as well as students’ problem-solving skills on textbook and YouTube problems. A quasi-experimental, treatment/control group design was employed, and data was collected and evaluated using multiple measurement instruments. First, rigor of homework problems was examined using the NASA Task Load Index. Also, problem solving was assessed using a previously-developed rubric called PROCESS: Problem definition, Representing the problem, Organizing the information, Calculations, Evaluating the solution, Solution communication, and Self-assessment. PROCESS was modified to independently measure completeness and accuracy of student responses, as well as identify errors committed in material and energy balances. In the treatment group, students were assigned ten textbook problems and nine YouTube problems. While the control group obtained higher PROCESS scores at the beginning of the study, both groups exhibited similar problem-solving skills near the end. Also, the rigor of student-written YouTube problems was similar to textbook problems related to the same course concepts. 

This evidence-based practices paper discusses the method employed in validating the use of a project modified version of the PROCESS tool (Grigg, Van Dyken, Benson, & Morkos, 2013) for measuring student problem solving skills. The PROCESS tool allows raters to score students’ ability in the domains of Problem definition, Representing the problem, Organizing information, Calculations, Evaluating the solution, Solution communication, and Self-assessment. Specifically, this research compares student performance on solving traditional textbook problems with novel, student-generated learning activities (i.e. reverse engineering videos in order to then create their own homework problem and solution). The use of student-generated learning activities to assess student problem solving skills has theoretical underpinning in Felder’s (1987) work of “creating creative engineers,” as well as the need to develop students’ abilities to transfer learning and solve problems in a variety of real world settings. In this study, four raters used the PROCESS tool to score the performance of 70 students randomly selected from two undergraduate chemical engineering cohorts at two Midwest universities. Students from both cohorts solved 12 traditional textbook style problems and students from the second cohort solved an additional nine student-generated video problems. Any large scale assessment where multiple raters use a rating tool requires the investigation of several aspects of validity. The many-facets Rasch measurement model (MFRM; Linacre, 1989) has the psychometric properties to determine if there are any characteristics other than “student problem solving skills” that influence the scores assigned, such as rater bias, problem difficulty, or student demographics. Before implementing the full rating plan, MFRM was used to examine how raters interacted with the six items on the modified PROCESS tool to score a random selection of 20 students’ performance in solving one problem. An external evaluator led “inter-rater reliability” meetings where raters deliberated rationale for their ratings and differences were resolved by recourse to Pretz, et al.’s (2003) problem-solving cycle that informed the development of the PROCESS tool. To test the new understandings of the PROCESS tool, raters were assigned to score one new problem from a different randomly selected group of six students. Those results were then analyzed in the same manner as before. This iterative process resulted in substantial increases in reliability, which can be attributed to increased confidence that raters were operating with common definitions of the items on the PROCESS tool and rating with consistent and comparable severity. This presentation will include examples of the student-generated problems and a discussion of common discrepancies and solutions to the raters’ initial use of the PROCESS tool. Findings as well as the adapted PROCESS tool used in this study can be useful to engineering educators and engineering education researchers. 

Homework problems from many textbooks have solutions manuals on the Internet. Students find solutions manuals and focus on getting the right answer put little or no effort on learning. Problem solving is a signature skill of engineers that is in high demand across industries. Here, problem solving is employed when students apply course concepts to reverse engineer YouTube videos and create new homework-quality problem statements and solutions. This research seeks to examine the rigor of YouTube problems and the effect of YouTube problems on the problem-solving skills of students. A quasi-experimental, treatment/control group design is employed and data is collected and evaluated using a variety of tools. The rigor of YouTube problems is examined using the NASA Task Load Index (TLX). Problem solving skill are examined using Problem definition, representing the problem, organizing information, calculations, evaluating the solution, solution communication, and self-assessment (PROCESS) and other tools.