Aesthetics and expanding perception in fluid physics

Flow Visualization is both the practice of making fluid physics visible and a course that focuses on the practice of making those images, as short video and stills. Since 2003, this course has been cross-listed as a mechanical engineering elective and a fine arts studio course, and brings together mixed teams of engineering and fine arts photography or film students. With its focus on the production of aesthetically pleasing and scientifically useful images of fluid flows, it is one of the few course offerings that explicitly calls upon engineering students to use an aesthetic sense in their studies. In prior work, this course was associated with a positive shift in affect toward fluid flows, which we measured through the Fluids Perception Survey (FluPerS) [1]. In the same survey, students expressed a greater awareness of fluids. This outcome was in contrast to the survey results from Fluid Mechanics, a traditional engineering core course, with a highly analytic, mathematical approach. Exit surveys of students in Fluid Mechanics reveal a negative shift in affect, which is typical of other technical courses, with no comments about awareness of fluids. The increased awareness of fluids can be termed an expansion of perception - when learners see everyday objects, events, or issues through the lens of the content [2]. Expansion of perception is often associated with deeper conceptual understanding and the ability to transfer learning to new settings. Building on the prior survey work, we conducted interviews with students from Flow Vis, both engineering students (n=4) and art/film students (n=5), in addition to Fluid Mechanics students (n=3), at the beginning and end of a semester. Their comments, along with open responses in the survey (n=86), are being analyzed using an iterative process to develop an emergent coding scheme. We want to discover what about Flow Vis helps students, both from engineering and art, internalize and apply their understanding of fluids. What role does the emphasis on aesthetics, so familiar to the art students, so uncommon in coursework for the engineers, play? Finally, how can we adapt the teaching practices from Flow Vis for other courses, other content areas? Analysis of data and future course suggestions are discussed.