Flow visualisation with smartphones as an educational framework for affordable and interactive micro-lab sessions

We present the development of a set of micro-lab sessions for practical teaching of fluid mechanics at the undergraduate level [1]. Those rely on 1) the implementation of affordable and low-cost experiments with easily accessible material 2) the visualisation of the fluid flow using a smartphone camera, 3) the processing of images using specifically designed post-processing codes [2], 4) comparison of the experimental output with theoretical models. Students are expected to derive the theory, set-up and perform the experiments, and analyse the data in autonomy, guided by interactive h5p lab protocols [3] the structure of which is grounded in the Bloom’s framework [4]. This makes the concept of interest to implement practical approaches in classes with a high number of students and limited teaching staff and material resources, thus promoting equity and inclusiveness in education. Feedback from more than 250 students on 2 successive academic years and from 2 different programs indicate that the format is well appreciated by students and serves as a worthy complement to in-class face to face teaching activities.

[1] A. Minichiello et al.,” Comput. Appl. Eng. Educ., vol. 29, no. 3, 2021

[2] B. Mercier, “comBOS.” 2022. Available: http://www.combos-schlieren.org/;

[3] https://h5p.org/

[4] Bloom, B. S.; Engelhart, M. D.; Furst, E. J.; Hill, W. H.; Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Vol. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Company.