FLExperiment Solving small technical problems by using mathematical and physical knowledge, skills and competencies in engnineering education

Engineers are supposed to be clever innovators and creative problem solvers. First-year engineering students usually do not learn to solve technical problems creatively. They usually do not learn how to innovate. In this paper we describe FLExperiments as a new learning format in a research-based learning environment named FLEx-Forschungswerkstatt (research workshop). FLEx provides student-focused, competence-oriented and research-based learning. Conducting FLExperiments means that students solve small technical problems by experimentation and subsequently document their findings in a scientific report. FLExperimentation includes the iterative process of experiential learning synchronized with a research process. To demonstrate the idea of FLExperimentation we are giving the example of an experiment from the field of kinetics: the Loop.