Work in progress — Virtual facilitation and procedural knowledge education

Engineering students acquire both conceptual and procedural knowledge as part of their education. While conceptual knowledge, such as understanding why certain design practices are required or having knowledge of the general principles of engineering development, is essential, procedural knowledge to enact specific engineering practices is also needed. This kind of knowledge, such as balancing chemical equations, solving calculus problems, or finding Thevenin-Norton equivalents, is usually taught through rote problem solving, sometimes with the guidance of teaching assistants or aid from the instructor if students find themselves “stuck”. However, a Virtual Facilitator, designed to help students develop team skills, can also be used to guide students through the solution of specific problems. This Work In Process paper describes the process for developing the needed procedural rules using an example problem from electrical engineering - finding a Thevenin equivalent circuit.