Some considerations and reflections on Engineering Thermodynamics teaching and learning

Students' difficulties learning Thermodynamics and Engineering Thermodynamics, and hate on Thermodynamics, are well known all over the World. Disappointment and concerns of Thermodynamics and Engineering Thermodynamics teachers with students' frustrations and poor performances are also globally well known. These are, at the end, correlated with their own performances as teachers. There are many reasons for that, which, just for organization purposes, can be placed on the students' side, on the teachers' side, on the teaching/learning approach and on the teaching/learning resources. These reasons can be placed on just one of these sides, or as combinations of contributes from more than one of the referred sides. Present reflections and considerations, mainly based on the author's experience of some decades teaching Engineering Thermodynamics for Mechanical Engineering students, and on some studies reported in the literature aim to identify the main sources contributing for that. They aim to help to an enlarged diagnostic, and main causes' identification, but not especially to propose solutions for them. Once the sources of the main problems are known, it is easier to design and propose supported plans and go ahead with efforts, experiences and implementations trying to improve the Engineering Thermodynamics teaching/learning process.