Student awareness of conceptual variations in a key nanoscience concept: Conceptual change in an engineering course

Along with the rapid development in nanoscience/engineering, the need to educate students to become more proficient in the big ideas of this field has gained enormous attention from scientists and the general public. Consequently, two interventions designed to help students in an engineering design course become aware of conceptual variations of Size and Scale were developed. This study reports findings of a study that examined the impact of these interventions on students' conceptual development. Conceptual changes were assessed by analyzing students' pre and post responses on survey items and through interviews. The analysis reveals the positive influence of the interventions on students' awareness of the conceptual variations in understanding Size and Scale.