Liberatore YouTube Problems
Starting in 2008, Professor Liberatore and his students at the Colorado School of Mines created YouTube Fridays. The first 5 minutes of Friday's class included student-selected YouTube videos relating course topics to the real world. Choosing videos later turned into a class assignment where students write problems that reverse engineer videos. We affectionally call these video-inspired, student-written problems YouTube problems.
With support from the National Science Foundation, we are studying engineering student problem solving skills when solving student-written YouTube problems. Many useful resources from videos to worksheets to publications are compiled below.
Bringing YouTube problems to your classroom
Videos made by our team about creating your own YouTube problems are on our YouTube channel.
Videos selected by students for creating YouTube Problems
Playlists with hundreds of videos are available on our YouTube channel.
Publications about YouTube problems
YouTube Fridays is born
In the journal Chemical Engineering Education, we detailed how using videos both engaged students and led to new insights about engineering concepts.
YouTube Engineering Estimate problems
In the journal Advances in Engineering Education, Professors Liberatore, Vestal, and Herring detailed how using YouTube videos to create engineering estimate problems.
YouTube problems improve exam scores
In the journal Chemical Engineering Education, we detailed how YouTube problems used as homework in heat transfer translated to higher final exam scores for the treatment group.
YouTube problems in ASEE proceedings
We have many conference proceedings papers from the ASEE Annual Meetings that compliment our journal papers on YouTube problems.
Problem solving and problem difficulty research
In IJEE, our team found similar problem difficulty and problem solving for expert-written textbook and student-written YouTube problems.
YouTube problems and learning attitudes
In CEE, our team found similar problem difficulty and problem solving for expert-written textbook and student-written YouTube problems.
YouTube problems and multiple cohorts
Problem solving and problem difficulty were compared for control and treatment groups and for two different cohorts of each group. This Journal of Chemical Education paper captures our findings.
Free educational resources
Designing a YouTube problems assignment
Follow this worksheet detailing how to create YouTube problems. In person workshops can also be scheduled by contacting Professor Liberatore.
YouTube problems in K12 education
Examples with rubrics for K12 Science Education from Ms. Stevens and Mrs. Kuhl. Newton's Laws or Balancing a chemical reaction.
YouTube problems in engineering education
Example assignments from Professors Liberatore and Malefyt for Material and Energy Balances, Fluid Mechanics, Separations, and Graduate Fluid Mechanics. Also, a rubric as a Google sheet or rubric as a pdf for grading engineering problems.