Education of students and citizens for process development
Résumé
Education may be a powerful and efficient tool to promote as well to enhance new material creation
as well as new processes to produce them or training to increase society acceptability (Delebarre,
2021). New Information and Communication Technology in Education can help the promotion of the
conception, the production and the use of new materials and processes within society. Besides, the
use of project work such as Controversy studies in Energy and Environment also contribute to form
students to the implementation of new ideas and technologies (Delebarre and Wei, 2019)
It has been a long time since teachers have been looking for new education methods to improve
learner motivation and knowledge transfers and thus the acquisition of skills. Furthermore, new
materials and new processes often need experimental and theoretical knowledge to characterize the
searched properties of materials and then to design the process to produce it. Fortunately, Information
and Communication Technology in Education can help in improving the teaching content devoted to
attendees such as (i) future or present researchers in charge of the conception of new materials as
well as new processes to produce them; (ii) future or present engineers able to design the plants to
produce these new materials; (iii) citizens that may enhance the acceptability of innovations and the
use of them. Moreover, education to conceive, to design, to produce and to use new products and
processes can be helped and supported by massive open online course (MOOC) or small private online
classes (SPOC).
This paper aims at showing the motivation and at demonstrating the effectiveness of new methods of
learning that may serve the conception of products and processes that produce them. For instance,
new methods and tools were used to improve thermodynamics teaching to avoid intrinsic difficulties
of this matter and to take advantage of new generation appetence for new technologies. Mines Paris
has thus conceived and managed several MOOCs in Energetics (“Problèmes Energétiques Globaux”) as
well as Thermodynamics (“Conversion Thermodynamique de la Chaleur” and “Thermodynamique
Expérimentale”). This paper proposes firstly returns of experience from these MOOC, such as
attendance distribution, examination attendance, successful student percentages and quality and
effectiveness of learning experience and also their use as self-paced training cursus or SPOC interactive
tools (Delebarre et al., 2017, Delebarre et al., 2018).
Then it describes the MOOC "Thermodynamique Expérimentale" devoted to the teaching of
experimental thermodynamics for attendants ranging from students (Master or PhD), to personal or
customer individuals of process design and maker companies or new fluid or product producer
companies. This MOOC may be particularly useful to consider the adaptation of infrastructures
conceived for Liquefied Natural Gas to Liquefied Biogas or to characterize new materials/fluids and
processes issued from refinery of biomass or to evaluate Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage
according to industrial plants. This MOOC includes very specific contents such as the possibility of virtual practical experimental works by each learner. Some data on examination attendance, successful
student percentages and quality and effectiveness of learning experience obtained during three
sessions performed on FUN Platform are given.
The authors would like to thank Renaud Gicquel, professor formely in Mines Paris, author of the MOOC
“Problèmes Energétiques Globaux”, Christophe Coquelet (IMT Mines Albi) co-author of the MOOC
“Thermodynamique Expérimentale” and Nicolas Vion filmmaker of the above cited MOOC.