Search

Electron configuration provides insight into the chemical behaviors of elements and is an important concept for students to master in introductory chemistry. To better strengthen undergraduate students' mastery of electron configurations of atoms and ions, we designed a novel, interactive chemistry game called ChemisTree that uses active-learning techniques (e.g., physically building electron configurations onto a game board, small group work, and whole class discussion) and incorporates the three rules for electrons filling orbitals (Aufbau principle, Pauli exclusion principle, and Hund's rule), using LEGO tiles and plates to represent electrons and orbitals. Students watch an introductory video explaining the rules and components of the game prior to applying their knowledge of electron configuration by working in small groups to build the orbital diagrams of atoms and ions using the materials provided in their ChemisTree game kits. Student understanding is assessed using multiple-choice pre/post-test questions, scoring sheets with peer discussion, and self-reported postactivity evaluations. Students who played the game scored significantly higher in the post-test (62.7%) compared to the pre-test (51.2%), representing an 11.5% increase in average score. Here we provide details about the activity and present data suggesting that student understanding of electron configuration is improved.

Innovation in architecture education is increasingly oriented towards the analysis of real problems considered in their complexity and multi-dimensionality and the active involvement of the stakeholders. The aim of this paper is to highlight how the active role of stakeholders can improve the economic and cultural value of enhancement projects developed in architecture and planning schools, focusing on the potentialities of the problem-based learning (PBL) approach. A three-step educational procedure based on the PBL approach, applied at the atelier "Heritage Preservation and Enhancement" of the Politecnico di Torino, is presented. The results showed how a continuous interaction and dialogue with teachers and stakeholders can effectively support students in addressing real problems and in developing sustainable and feasible enhancement projects able to integrate heritage preservation and economic-financial issues.

The CrowdMapping Mirafiori Sud (CMMS) pilot project, carried out by the Polytechnic of Turin (Italy), involved the academic world (students and professors), the Mirafiori Onlus Foundation, the local administration and the community in a participatory and inclusive process. The district is a large area of Turin characterized by a high average age of its inhabitants and a high percentage of foreigners. The aim of the project is to identify and report, through the use of ICT, the obstacles that prevent residents - the most vulnerable categories - from using public space. In the start-up phase, it was not born as a PBL approach, but during the application the PBL was considered a development perspective in the educational experience starting from the students' proposals and the exchange of their skills, in the specific declination of the PBL approach known as community engaged learning. For students, this version of PBL has proven to be strategic in the implementation phases of the project, in particular in the mapping of interested parties and the data set and connections between networks of actors.