Strengthening engineering identity and communication skills through industrial role-playing in a senior chemical engineering laboratory course

In engineering education, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical skills is crucial for preparing students for their future careers, however, traditional laboratory courses tend to be formulaic and disconnected from real-world applications. This paper presents a redesigned senior-level chemical engineering laboratory course sequence at Montana State University that incorporates role-playing and industry-relevant scenarios to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. Instructors take the role of “management” while the students become “interns” and “probationary employees” at fictional companies that need to complete experiments and report results to different clientele. By simulating a professional engineering environment, students can relate labs to future industry tasks, thereby motivating them to improve their technical communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. The course design involved collaboration with industry representatives and was grounded in social learning, experiential learning, and situated learning theories. Preliminary feedback indicated that students found the course more relevant to their careers, felt more engaged, and developed a stronger engineering identity. This work contributes to the literature on innovative teaching methods in engineering education and offers practical recommendations for educators aiming to enhance the relevance and effectiveness of their courses.