Luís Fernando Mercier Franco, Aline Carvalho da Costa, Ambrósio Florêncio de Almeida Neto, Ângela Maria Moraes, Elias Basile Tambourgi, Everson Alves Miranda, Guilherme José de Castilho, Gustavo Doubek, José Vicente Hallak Dangelo, Leonardo Vasconcelos Fregolente, Liliane Maria Ferrareso Lona, Lucimara Gaziola de La Torre, Luz Adriana Alvarez, Mariana Conceição da Costa, Patricia Fazzio Martins Martinez, Roberta Ceriani, Roger Josef Zemp, Roniérik Pioli Vieira, Rubens Maciel Filho, Sávio Souza Venâncio Vianna, Raphael Soeiro Suppino
{"title":"A competency-based chemical engineering curriculum at the University of Campinas in Brazil","authors":"Luís Fernando Mercier Franco, Aline Carvalho da Costa, Ambrósio Florêncio de Almeida Neto, Ângela Maria Moraes, Elias Basile Tambourgi, Everson Alves Miranda, Guilherme José de Castilho, Gustavo Doubek, José Vicente Hallak Dangelo, Leonardo Vasconcelos Fregolente, Liliane Maria Ferrareso Lona, Lucimara Gaziola de La Torre, Luz Adriana Alvarez, Mariana Conceição da Costa, Patricia Fazzio Martins Martinez, Roberta Ceriani, Roger Josef Zemp, Roniérik Pioli Vieira, Rubens Maciel Filho, Sávio Souza Venâncio Vianna, Raphael Soeiro Suppino","doi":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.04.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.04.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Engineering education is being called upon to move to a student-centered teaching. New challenges demand a curriculum that considers a set of competencies to enable engineers to learn autonomously and to develop solid technical and relevant soft skills. We present a top-down methodology for developing a competency-based curricula, which was employed to conceive a new chemical engineering curriculum at the University of Campinas. Our methodology is based on four main steps: i) definition of the desired profile of students with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and their underlying competencies; ii) delineation of learning-experiences itineraries; iii) a macro conception of the curriculum entailing the logical-temporal arrangement of its learning-experiences itineraries; and the iv) establishment of each curricular component with its learning objectives. This new curriculum is integrated into the external society by experiences that engage students to practice social responsibility and develop technology based on the needs of society. Graduates’ profile and competencies were defined based on extensive surveys. We discuss how active learning methodologies can be an intrinsic part of the curriculum development process and how assessment strategies must fit the learning goals established for each curricular component. Finally, we discuss the current challenges of implementing and evaluating a competency-based curriculum.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48509,"journal":{"name":"Education for Chemical Engineers","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48307170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Panu Viitaharju, Minna Nieminen, Jarno Linnera, Kirsi Yliniemi, Antti J. Karttunen
{"title":"Student experiences from virtual reality-based chemistry laboratory exercises","authors":"Panu Viitaharju, Minna Nieminen, Jarno Linnera, Kirsi Yliniemi, Antti J. Karttunen","doi":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.06.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.06.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper describes a practical case study on the benefits and feasibility of a virtual laboratory as a part of chemistry laboratory exercises. Three different objectives that must fit together to create an efficient Virtual Reality (VR) learning experience were found: relevant information content, learning design, and technical feasibility. To achieve these multidisciplinary goals, a simple framework for designing VR learning materials was created. A 360-VR version of a chemistry laboratory exercise was designed and created following this framework. Data on its effectiveness was collected on a laboratory course with over 150 first-year chemical engineering students. The students completed the same laboratory exercise both as a virtual laboratory and in a real student laboratory. In the student feedback, students clearly stated that virtual laboratories cannot replace the experience in a real laboratory, and that the virtual laboratory exercises did not directly increase student motivation. Nevertheless, students showed a very positive attitude towards virtual learning materials and suggested including even more activating materials such as quizzes and interactive videos in the learning materials. Only a few students reported any downsides related to the virtual laboratory exercise. Overall, it was shown that our design principles work in practice as the students reported several real benefits when they completed a virtual laboratory exercise before the real-life laboratory exercise. These benefits included learning the correct way that the laboratory exercise proceeds and how to perform certain tasks correctly.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48509,"journal":{"name":"Education for Chemical Engineers","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47826066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Bascuñana, S. León, M. González-Miquel, E.J. González, J. Ramírez
{"title":"Impact of Jupyter Notebook as a tool to enhance the learning process in chemical engineering modules","authors":"J. Bascuñana, S. León, M. González-Miquel, E.J. González, J. Ramírez","doi":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.06.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.06.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Jupyter Notebook (JN) is an example of an innovative and efficient digital tool that can be used effectively in higher education. In this work, a set of JNs was developed and implemented in the module “Chemical Processes” of the Master’s in Industrial Engineering at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain) to strengthen key Chemical Engineering concepts and enhance the learning process of students. Specifically, five interactive JN activities related to mass balances, reactor design, and separation operations (i.e., distillation, absorption, and extraction) were created, including a set of self-assessment tests to measure the effect of this tool on the knowledge and understanding of students. In addition, the final grades obtained by the students were used to evaluate the impact of the interactive activities proposed in the learning process. Finally, the opinions of the students were collected through an anonymous questionnaire containing closed and open questions. The results obtained are discussed in terms of numerical indicators and student feedback to assess overall performance and engagement. In summary, this innovative teaching approach based on JN was considered a successful initiative to promote student motivation and learning experience in Chemical Engineering-related modules.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48509,"journal":{"name":"Education for Chemical Engineers","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41637085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring the Use of Large Language Models (LLMs) in Chemical Engineering Education: Building Core Course Problem Models","authors":"Meng-Lin Tsai, Chong Wei Ong, Cheng-Liang Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.05.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ece.2023.05.001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48509,"journal":{"name":"Education for Chemical Engineers","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43673342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Overview of the current situation relating to chemical engineering degree courses","authors":"María-Fernanda López-Pérez , Ma Ángeles Larrubia , Alejandro Fernández , Julià Sempere","doi":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.02.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.02.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In 2020, the Conference of Chemical Engineering Directors and Deans (CODDIQ) proposed the creation of an observatory to monitor chemical engineering degrees in Spain. This representative radiography of Chemical Engineering studies offers an initial point to observe the future changes when Royal Decree 822/2021 and proposed challenges in the last Ministerial Conference on the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) will be implanted. The survey data from CODDIQ partners allow us to know important data such as (i) the 24 international quality accreditations at Spanish universities, (ii) the high demand and the required marks, an average of 7.25, for the Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s degree, (iii) 9560 undergraduate students in this degree in Spain and their gender profile which is around 43% of women, similar than women lectures, (iv) the difficulty of this Bachelor’s degree through some indicators like duration of studies (5.25 years), graduation rate (41%) and drop-out rate (26%), (v) the employability after obtaining the Bachelor's degree is very high (>70%). In addition, Chemical engineering undergraduate and graduate students indicate their expectations are covered. In this paper, some consequences of the pandemic on students' performance (lower than before COVID-19) are analyzed, despite lectures tried to innovate in their classes and the university provided adequate tools for online teaching.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48509,"journal":{"name":"Education for Chemical Engineers","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41471386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reassessment of petroleum engineering education: Is it the end of an era or a new start?","authors":"Tayfun Babadagli","doi":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.01.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ece.2023.01.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Since emerging more than a century ago, petroleum engineering (PE) education has increasingly kept its popularity despite significant downturns in the industry<span>. During these downturn periods, observed at least four times since the 1973 oil crisis, structural changes in university programs have been considered. While experiencing the fifth downturn period over the last five decades, it is time again to ask the same question: “Shall we continue with the same PE education model or radically shift to a new model?” In this paper, after reviewing more than fifty articles published over the last 85 years reporting the attempts made towards reshaping PE education, an option of restructuring PE programs is discussed. This option is less oil industry (and oil prices) dependent and more of a “general” engineering education program with an emphasis on the “geoscience” or “subsurface” engineering aspects of the PE discipline. The viability of the proposed program was discussed from industry, academia, and students’ perspective. Fundamentals are essential in this new program similar to other general (or major) engineering disciplines such as mechanical, civil, chemical, and electrical engineering. The critical elements of engineering skills such as creative design, decision making, problem description and solving, management under high degree of uncertainty, and data collection and processing for optimization are to be included in the new model.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":48509,"journal":{"name":"Education for Chemical Engineers","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49714290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Inmaculada de Dios-Pérez , Celia Nieto , Milena A. Vega , Eva Martín del Valle
{"title":"Polyphenol extraction from olive leaves to show Chemical Engineering students the importance of revaluating residues while improving their hands-on experience","authors":"Inmaculada de Dios-Pérez , Celia Nieto , Milena A. Vega , Eva Martín del Valle","doi":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.01.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.01.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The aim of this work was to try to implement a new laboratory class for Chemical Engineering students in which they could analyze how it is possible to revalue some organic residues. Concretely, the objective was to show them how to revalue olive leaves by extracting their polyphenols, since these leaves, being an abundant organic waste in Spain, were well-known by the students to whom this study was addressed. With the aim of improving student understanding of the basic Chemical Engineering concepts, two extraction techniques (solvent extraction process and ultrasound-assisted extraction) as well as their combination were investigated during the class. In addition, the effect that different pre-treatments had on polyphenol extraction efficiency was also studied to show students how important research is before fine-tuning an industrial process. To do this, students were divided into working groups to carry out polyphenol extraction under different experimental conditions. Ultimately, student groups compared and discussed the efficiency of the different employed extraction techniques. Likewise, students were surveyed to evaluate the suitability and training-usefulness of the proposed class. Obtained assignments revealed that it could be an interesting option to improve students’ hands-on experience while strengthening some theoretical concepts explained in the degree lectures.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48509,"journal":{"name":"Education for Chemical Engineers","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41658962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Helin Wang , Can Liu , Helong Jiang , Zhiliang Guo , Yingping Zheng , Qi Qi , Lixu Lei
{"title":"A laboratory experiment on preparation of 3PbO·PbSO4·H2O using less solvent solid state reaction for undergraduate students","authors":"Helin Wang , Can Liu , Helong Jiang , Zhiliang Guo , Yingping Zheng , Qi Qi , Lixu Lei","doi":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.02.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.02.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Less solvent solid state reactions are reactions of solids with help of a little amount of solvent in ordinary stirring reactors. Due to the limited amount of solvent, only part of the substances can dissolve in the solvent, and the solvent can be regarded as a transport agent that makes the reactants contact easily. Here, we present an experiment about less solvent solid state reaction that enables students to use β-PbO and PbSO<sub>4</sub> to produce 3PbO·PbSO<sub>4</sub>·H<sub>2</sub>O (tribasic lead sulfate, usually short as 3BS) in 2 h with its reaction monitored and product characterized with X-ray diffraction. By combining their experiment data with the thermodynamic analysis in the pre-lab lecture, students can understand why solution reactions reach equilibriums eventually while solid state reactions reach 100% completion, and how to get rid of the diffusion difficulty of solid state reactions. Meanwhile, exposure to this experiment can stimulate students to explore techniques for greener chemical processes other than solution reactions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48509,"journal":{"name":"Education for Chemical Engineers","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43590109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Leslie W. Bolton , Jarka Glassey , Esther Ventura-Medina
{"title":"Updating chemical engineering degree accreditation in changing times","authors":"Leslie W. Bolton , Jarka Glassey , Esther Ventura-Medina","doi":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.01.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.01.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Accreditation of chemical engineering degrees remains an important tool for IChemE in providing efficient and robust routes to membership for the majority of its applicants. It is likely that the required criteria for programmes will continue to evolve to reflect the needs of the various stakeholders – students and universities, members of IChemE, employers of chemical engineering graduates, and wider society. Accreditation processes will also continue to adapt as institutions seek to balance the conflicting priorities of combating climate change with operating robust assessment processes.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48509,"journal":{"name":"Education for Chemical Engineers","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43035099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The evolving engineer; professional accreditation sustainability criteria and societal imperatives and norms","authors":"Edmond P. Byrne","doi":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.01.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ece.2023.01.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Professional accreditation criteria around sustainability are an important consideration in the delivery of accredited (chemical) engineering programmes. This paper looks at the sustainability related criteria required by a number of professional bodies, while considering the evolution of such criteria over the past decades. It is seen that the scope and breadth of sustainability criteria has expanded among many accreditation bodies, including the Institution of Chemical Engineers, in line with institutional and professional imperatives. This has promoted the incorporation of a far broader range of sustainability related attributes than was previously envisaged. There are nevertheless large differences between the requirements of the various professional bodies considered, and in programmes across the world. The impact of societal imperatives and norms, including those of employers is reflected upon, as is the awareness and concerns of young people, who as graduates will be working through mid-century, directly engaging with sustainability related imperatives. IChemE accredited programmes are increasingly obliged to actively engage with contemporary sustainability related requirements more broadly, requiring increased integration of sustainability attributes across the curriculum, in terms of knowledge, skills and values. This evolution is important in remaining relevant as a profession, and in playing a key role in addressing societal challenges.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48509,"journal":{"name":"Education for Chemical Engineers","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47989214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}