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Student Self-Reflection In Scaffolded Undergraduate Thermodynamics Course

Thermodynamics I has a reputation for being a challenging course for undergraduate students. It is taught in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) department at North Carolina State University for sophomore MAE students. About half of the enrolled students come from other engineering disciplines, and these students are typically juniors and seniors. Most MAE students also take Thermodynamics II so their learning in the introductory course is critical to their earning of their degree. The scaffolded structure of Thermodynamics I means that lower-performing students are at risk of falling behind during the semester. Three learning modules are taught in such a way that student success in one module directly influences their success in sequential modules. This research provides a method for collecting data on student metacognition for each learning module in a large enrollment class.