Shaping Clay
On unexpected visual aids in teaching.
Here’s a question: can we use arts & crafts to teach thermodynamics?
My undergraduate coursework in chemical engineering was very straightforward; walk into class, take notes as the instructor talked at us for 50-75 minutes, shut our notebooks, walk to the next class, repeat. The more pedagogically-inclined instructors used more active learning methods like “flipped classrooms”, where we learn the course material on our own time and in-class time was spent collaboratively solving problems. This is, in my opinion, a much better use of students’ time, and so it’s the method I use most often in my classes. But still, I feel like there’s plenty of untapped potential for in-class activities…
Let’s go back in time for a bit. One of the founders of capital-t Thermodynamics as we know it today, Josiah Willard Gibbs Jr., described in his original papers a “thermodynamic surface” to envision the relationship between volume, entropy, and energy at different temperatures and pressures in 3D space (no don’t go there’s a point to this I promise). James Clerk Maxwell, yet another dead white guy who was a key figure in physics, was the first to actually make a 3-dimensional model of this theoretical surface. Even if you know nothing about thermodynamics, take a look at the visual on the left versus the visual on the right and tell me which one you’d rather interpret.
If you didn’t study this stuff in school, maybe none of this makes sense to you. But the bottom line is this: the people who derived all the equations we learn about in engineering school literally molded clay and plaster to understand these relationships better. This blows my mind because nothing in my undergraduate or graduate education involved anything like this. Sometimes we might make a 2-D binary phase diagram in Excel, but this was the extent to which we created our own visual metaphors to learn about chemical engineering principles.
If the people who invented thermodynamics were making their own visual aids, shouldn’t our students be doing the same thing? Shouldn’t we encourage our students to find new, creative ways to express the relationships between volume, pressure, and temperature besides writing out “PV=nRT”? What if the next big breakthrough in physics will be made by a student who literally sees things from a new perspective? It wouldn’t be the first time.
Mostly, I guess, I enjoy the poetic symmetry of students molding their partially-formed ideas about engineering concepts into a coherent understanding at the same moment that they mold clay into its final form. In my mind, showing students a derivation (or a plot, or even a 3D model) may only get them part of the way to understanding a difficult concept like thermodynamics; meanwhile, partaking in the act of something’s creation is the best way to true mastery. We learn best by doing, not seeing.
Recently, there has been somewhat of a push to add the letter “A” (for “art”) into “STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) to create a new acronym, “STEAM”. (Fantastic, more acronym discourse, as though I don’t get enough of that already in the queer community.) We bring up STEAM in seminars and department meetings, but for most educators, the idea vanishes as quickly as it’s mentioned. “Yes! More art and creativity, that would be great!” we say, nodding our heads, and then we swiftly forget to actually act on this notion, like that one Doctor Who villain.
I tried a slightly artistic approach when teaching Unit Operations at UConn in Fall 2021. I commissioned one of the students in my class (Nia Samuels) to help make a visual syllabus, which ultimately took the form of a zine. There was a political dimension to this; embodying queer, radical traditions of knowledge-sharing by providing students with an often-boring document in a DIY, fun-to-read style. I’m going to be writing more about this in a future newsletter, but for now, you can check out the full zine on my website.
What about y’all? If you’re an educator in any capacity, how do you use visuals to spice up your instruction? I, for one, will be 3D printing my own thermodynamic surface and keeping it in my office as inspiration.
(Side note: I finally got to see my new UMass office this past week!!! This is my first-ever private office and I can’t wait to make it my own!)
Currently Reading
This Twitter thread by @TheKingOfReads details the situation around monkey pox vaccine access in New York City right now. So far, most of the vaccines have not been distributed to the Black & brown residents who need them the most, with some anecdotes of white people getting early access to the vaccine are spreading on social media. Like I discussed on my Rule 63 episode on vaccines from early 2021, we are unfortunately seeing history repeat itself on this one; communities of color are not being given the resources they need to survive. While the false equivalencies between HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 have been thoroughly debunked, there is a scary media narrative about monkey pox being spread mostly among gay men that’s all too familiar (that is, if you know anything about the way the media covered HIV/AIDS in the 80s/90s).
For now, please stay informed about how to protect yourself from the monkey pox virus. Also, if you’re a straight/cis ally, PLEASE make sure that your community (friends, neighbors, colleagues, etc.) are aware that this is not strictly a disease for men who have sex with men.
Watch History
ToonrificTariq makes the best animation retrospectives on YouTube, period. His latest video on one of my favorite shows of all time, Class of 3000, is one of his best. You know it’s a vibe when you have Outkast songs as background music.
You know it’s a dark time when multiple different creators are putting out videos that amount to, “hey everyone, let’s not lose hope, alright?”
Bops, Vibes, & Jams
adelaide, the musical project of Season of the Bitch’s Laura Kerrigan, just released their first EP, “dark truths that may cheer you up”. Stream or buy it on Bandcamp!
Gorillaz are back with a bangin’ new song, and what seems like a new album cycle! It’s wild to think that I’ve been following this band since I heard tracks from “Demon Days” in middle school (to save you the mental math, yes, I am 27).
And now, your weekly Koko.
That’s all for now! See you next week with more sweet, sweet content.
In solidarity,
-Anna