Faith & Learning Integration in a Mechanical Engineering ...josephtipton.com/userfiles/images/CSC_JBTipton_2016_Web.pdf · 1 Joseph B. Tipton, Jr. 6/8/2016 "Faith & Learning Integration

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6/8/2016 Joseph B. Tipton, Jr.

"Faith & Learning Integration in a Mechanical Engineering Thermodynamics Course"

All of my education both primary and secondary were at public schools. In

contrast, almost all of the people in my church youth group attended Lipscomb

Academy and then Lipscomb University (Cradle to grave, so to speak!). I thus

came to Lipscomb in 2015 with a lot of anecdotal knowledge and no formal Christian

theological training.

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During AY 2015-2016, the orientation program at Lipscomb University is

purposefully encouraging new faculty to think deeply and purposefully about

faith/learning integration in their respective curricula. Guiding resources have

included The Vocation of the Christian Scholar by Hughes and Faith and Learning by

Allen and Bradley.

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This author has begun the journey to purposefully integrate faith with learning. If

indeed "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Col 1:17) then

what does it mean to think Christianly about mechanical engineering in the

classroom? We need to admit that the experiences we plan and the ways we structure

our courses heavily shape how our students experience their education overall" (Faith

and Learning, pg. 38). One feels the weight of this responsibility as "Not many of you

should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged

with greater strictness" (James 3:1). Yikes!

A key word here is integration. I dont want my students to experience a

compartmentalized education that tacitly encourages them to compartmentalize their

faith in Jesus Christ, their vocation in engineering, their study of the humanities, etc.

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In the pre-industrial era, humans used animals to perform useful work. The

industrial revolution brought about thermo-dynamics as heat engines (think steam

and air) were used to perform useful work (e.g. pumping water out of mines).

Advances were made by trial and error. We thought that work and heat (energy) were

different things. Energy was thought to be a substance called caloric.

The scientific study of thermodynamics resulted in three fundamentals laws. The

1st Law and 2nd Law were not solidified until the mid-1800s. The 1st Law concerns

the conservation of energy. The balance gives a mental picture to the idea that energy

cannot be created or destroyed it must be conserved. The 2nd Law essentially

describes the usefulness of energy. Inefficiencies will always be present that rob a

machine of useful energy output (think friction and waste heat to the surroundings).

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In the midst of a very practical (maybe even earthly!) engineering curriculum, an

introduction to thermodynamics course supplies surprisingly fertile ground for social

justice and cosmology topics.

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We now know that work and heat transfer are just forms of energy. The historical

evolution of our concepts of work, heat, and energy leave us with competing unit

systems. Early in the course, students must come to grasp with the various forms and

the conversions between them.

Who defines these units? I find it amazing that the kilogram is an actual mass

that is stored in a vault in Europe. In the USA, NIST maintains a similar standard

mass. In the State of Tennessee, the Department of Agriculture has a Weights and

Measures division which tests measuring devices (e.g. produce scales, gas pumps)

used in commerce (http://www.tn.gov/agriculture/topic/ag-businesses-weights-

measures). All measuring devices follow a system of traceability back to the original

standard.

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http://www.tn.gov/agriculture/topic/ag-businesses-weights-measureshttp://www.tn.gov/agriculture/topic/ag-businesses-weights-measureshttp://www.tn.gov/agriculture/topic/ag-businesses-weights-measureshttp://www.tn.gov/agriculture/topic/ag-businesses-weights-measureshttp://www.tn.gov/agriculture/topic/ag-businesses-weights-measureshttp://www.tn.gov/agriculture/topic/ag-businesses-weights-measureshttp://www.tn.gov/agriculture/topic/ag-businesses-weights-measures

For the most part, we live in a society with low corruption. When we pump gas

into our cars, we implicitly trust that the gallons listed on the electronic display are

accurate (true). When we buy fruit at the supermarket, we implicitly trust that the

electronic scale accurately weighs the bananas.

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It turns out that God has been long-concerned about justice with honest scales! In

the ancient Jewish civilization, the temple priests maintained the standard weights and

measures.

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Developing nations suffer from corruption to the point that weights and measures,

codes and standards cant be trusted. Transparency and corruption prevention is listed

as a major theme for the Engineers Against Poverty organization

(http://www.engineersagainstpoverty.org/site/engi/templates/generalsubnav.aspx?page

id=44&cc=gb&forumboardid=18&forumtopicid=18). A perfect example in current

events can be found with the Kolkata overpass collapse in India.

And lest we feel too smug in the US, examples of corruption can still be found. A

notable recent example comes from the Basel Action Network which hid GPS devices

in old electronics and then submitted them for recycling. A surprising amount of

devices ended up in third world junkyards. As Fox News showed in 2014, these

junkyards are inhabited by impoverished people who endure hellish conditions to eek

out a living. An interesting topic for discussion is our connection to this through

consumer culture. We like to think that we can dispose of our trash without impact

(think out of sight, out of mind). What responsibility do we have with our first

world waste when it impacts the third world?

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http://www.engineersagainstpoverty.org/site/engi/templates/generalsubnav.aspx?pageid=44&cc=gb&forumboardid=18&forumtopicid=18http://www.engineersagainstpoverty.org/site/engi/templates/generalsubnav.aspx?pageid=44&cc=gb&forumboardid=18&forumtopicid=18

Later in the course, the Second Law of Thermodynamics introduces students to

the idea of waste heat, thermal pollution, and significant water utilization. This

connects with the social justice concepts of climate change and competition for

natural resources.

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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) publishes Sankey diagrams (a

type of flow chart) that show energy use, water use, and carbon dioxide emissions

(https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/). These can serve as an excellent source of information to

help students think about how their resource utilization affects global society.

The above chart shows estimated energy use in 2012 for Tennessee. Prompting

questions include:

How many pounds of coal did an average Tennessean use in 2012? Where did the

coal come from?

How many gallons of gasoline did an average Tennessean use in 2012? Where did

the gasoline come from?

Why was so much energy thrown away (rejected)? Does this affect the

environment? Is there a way to reduce this?

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https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/

LLNL also published water usage flow charts by state. 2005 is the last published

chart for the state of TN. Note that thermoelectric cooling (i.e. cooling power plants)

comprises about 40% (270/660) of the states water consumption. How does our

appetite for electricity affect water resources locally and globally?

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As a bonus topic for faith/learning integration, the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics

provides an opportunity to discuss topics of cosmology.

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An interesting calculation students can perform is the entropy generated when an

egg is cooked. From a purely naturalistic point-of-view, every time you cook an egg,

the universe dies a little. This has a rather fatalistic tone. Im reminded of the

pessimistic viewpoint that health is but the slowest rate at which you can die! I

believe this connects well with the meaning of the Teacher in the Book of Ecclesiastes

that everything under the sun is meaningless.

Contrast this with the Christian belief in the resurrection: Praise be to the God

and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into

a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an

inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. (1 Peter 1: 3-4, NIV)

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One challenge with implementation in the curriculum is competition with existing

course requirements. The topics listed in the course catalog are important considering

the prescripted nature of an accredited degree that includes a national examination.

Increasing the course from 3 to 4 credit hours would be great, however, this is outside

my immediate control.

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A few years ago, I learned about Constructive Alignment as a technique to better

structure a course. You start by describing a series of Intended Learning Outcomes

(i.e. At the end of this course, I want a student to be able to). That then informs

what gets taught (instruction) and what gets assessed (homework, quizzes, exams,

etc.).

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These are the Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) that I decided upon in 2013 for

an iteration of an Introduction to Thermodynamics course. This results in a fairly

busy course, and I am very hesitant to include more content.

The last ILO is typically assessed through an extra credit opportunity. Im

wondering whether this might be a good area to expand so that students can

voluntarily pursue further integration with their faith and their burgeoning knowledge

of engineering thermodynamics.

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At the beginning of this presentation I discussed motivation for this work which

includes a desire to avoid compartmentalizing Christian faith and engineering studies.

Accordingly, the onus is on me to model the kind of integration I seek with my

students.

So, should every class have faith/learning integration as an Intended Learning

Outcome? If it were an ILO, then I would expect to include it in grade assessments.

And Im not comfortable with grading students in this area.

Ill end with other possible modes of integration that are paraphrased from Faith

and Learning. Clearly, there is much more room for thoughtful and creative

implementation!

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Documents

Faith & Learning Integration in a Mechanical Engineering ...josephtipton.com/userfiles/images/CSC_JBTipton_2016_Web.pdf · 1 Joseph B. Tipton, Jr. 6/8/2016 "Faith & Learning Integration