A concept inventory for material and energy balances

A 22-question multiple-choice concept inventory has been developed for assessing student learning in a basic material and energy balance subject. The concept inventory is aimed at identifying the misconceptions that student cohorts may have when they start a subject, course or program. These pre-existing, and sometimes deeply entrenched, misconceptions may interfere with the acceptance and learning of the correct concepts if they remain unaddressed. The concept inventory presented here was given at the beginning and at the conclusion of a first year material and energy balance subject to over 170 students. By comparing the results of the pre- and post-tests the extent to which misconceptions have been corrected may be assessed. The results show that several important misconceptions were significantly diminished but that others are more deeply ingrained. The material and energy balance concept inventory is found to be a useful tool for understanding the influence of important misconceptions.