A TRIBOLOGY FLIPPED CLASSROOM: AN INTRODUCTION OF TRIBOLOGY BASIC CONCEPTS IN THE CONTEXT OF A BLENDED LEARNING MACHINE DESIGN COURSE

This paper presents the application of the principles of Blended Learning to the teaching of the concepts of Tribology. Blended Learning is a fast developing approach towards the direction of transforming teaching of engineering courses by actively involving students into the learning process and thus reportedly resulting in higher levels of student achievement than purely face-to-face or purely online classes. Flipping the Classroom is a proposal in the context of Blended Learning which suggests that in-class students' activities, supported by learning material made available to them in advance, could replace the traditional scheme of teacher led lectures followed by homework. Trying to take advantage of the benefits of Blended Learning, we introduced a Tribology Flipped Classroom within a Machine Design course of the Mechanical Engineering Educators Curriculum. The lesson was planned following established design principles. The content was divided in (a): The preparation material which was mainly pre-existing resources including video, notes, slides, taking into account the difficulties that students face on the topic as well self - assessment tests; all these being available on-line. (b): In-class activities including a variety of problems such as, decision and design problems, logical exercises, and debates. In class students worked individually and in groups, participating also in a peer review activity. The evaluation of the project revealed a quite positive view of the participating students on the flipped classroom approach, in comparison to the traditional lectures which they have attended.