Analysis on the appropriate Pedagogy approaches applicable for 'Engineering Thermodynamics' Course

Teaching - Learning processes are vital in making the students understand better in diverse classroom environments. Few innovative approaches used may ensure that the class work is more interesting and make the students deliver better in order to gain the desired output, at the end of the course. Different aspects of T-L processes are possible to implement in all the courses, leading to any engineering program. With the invention of new technologies, these have got a new dimension, which are not so conventional as earlier. In this work, 'Engineering Thermodynamics' course, which is taught in an undergraduate energy engineering program is considered. Course contains five modules, covering fundamentals of thermodynamics, laws of thermodynamics, entropy, power cycles, fuels and combustion aspects. Different pedagogy approaches suitable according to the modules and the entire syllabus are exemplified and elaborated. Temperature and pressure measurement concepts can be taught effectively by the teacher by bringing the gauging equipment to the class. Laws can be taught with the help of a software, showing the uniformity of temperature or work done as per the heat input. Entropy can be taught with the practical examples shown in presentation/videos or through demonstration. Teacher can demonstrate an experiment in the lab to identify the performance of the engine, in order to make the students understand the concepts of power cycles. With the help of group tasks (or) case studies on live problems, the environmental aspects can be clearly understood by the students. In the end, grades obtained by the students and course-wise outcome attainment are also plotted for the last four years. Analysis finds the use of innovative pedagogy approaches, while sticking to the conventional teaching methodology, in order to ensure that students achieve the required abilities. Thus the present work uses appropriate pedagogy approaches applicable for a basic engineering course and is very much useful for implementation by the teachers of energy engineering and allied programs.