Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Education: Upperclass Years

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Monica Cox, Purdue University; Angie Andriot, Purdue University; Stephen Beaudoin, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

preparation of engineering doctoral students for careers in academia and industry and the development of engineering education assessment tools. She is a NSF Faculty Early Career (CAREER) award winner and is a recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).Angie Andriot, Purdue University Angie Andriot is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at Purdue University. Her dissertation, entitled “Gender and Engineering Identity Development among Undergraduate Majors,” is partially funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Purdue Research Foundation. Angie also works part-time doing research for the College of Engineering

Conference Session

Demonstration and Project Enhancements in Chemical Engineering Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Allen Yang, Cornell University; Kathryn Dimiduk, Cornell University; Susan Daniel, Cornell University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

current issues, excite student interest in finding solutions to challenges that face theirgeneration, and engage students in learning the required skills to solve these problems.Never has it been more important to engage more students in science and engineering than intoday’s society where the demand for engineers is expected to significantly exceed the supply inthe near future1. Concurrent to this growing deficit in technically-trained workers is the rapiddiversification of our population. In order to fill the gap, people from diverse backgrounds willneed to be motivated to choose engineering as a career choice2. Extensive research shows thatone way to engage students is to connect problems to societal impact by integrating the “humanelement

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Education: Upperclass Years

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Bullard, North Carolina State University; David Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

Professional Development Buffet: From Banquet to À La CarteAbstractBoth ABET and industrial advisory boards encourage engineering departments to includeinstruction in “soft skills” that reflect the broader professional qualities necessary for studentsuccess in their careers. These include oral and written communication, ethics and professionalbehavior, resume and interviewing skills, electronic and professional etiquette, informationliteracy, and broader knowledge of engineering solutions in a global or societal context. Whilesome departments dedicate one or more instructional credits to accomplish this objective, othersmay integrate such topics into existing core courses. This paper presents a one-credit model fora junior-level course in professional

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Education: Underclass Years

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Silverstein, University of Kentucky; Margot Vigeant, Bucknell University; Donald Visco, Tennessee Technological University; Donald Woods, McMaster University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

California offers an Introduction to Chemical Engineering course that is primarily a mass and energy balance course. Other courses include Engng 102, Freshman Academy, 2 credits, fall semester Class size 400 with 13 sections of 30 to 35/section (5) - Clemson University has an elective course ChE Tools, 3 credits that includes small team projects. - This course also functions to highlight material that appears later in the curriculum and/or their career. Class size is 70 students with two sections of 35 each. They also offer a required, first semester 2 credit Engineering Disciplines and Skill, CES 102 that includes brief ChE activities. Class size: 850 to 950; with 60 students/section (11). - Colorado

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Education: Underclass Years

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sundararajan Madihally, Oklahoma State Univ.; Marcus Duffy, Oklahoma State University; Lynn Franzmann, Stillwater; Rebekah Reece, Stillwater; Karen High, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

disinterest in engineering career by nearly 85% of 8 to 17 oldstudents [1]. A major reason cited by the students is the lack of awareness about engineering.As most students advance through middle school science classes, their attitude toward sciencebecome more negative and their interests decrease most in the seventh grade [2-5]. Thus, themiddle grades are a critical period for students, representing the period most beneficial toprovide engaging academic opportunities. With the increase in demand of qualified engineers,the lack of interest has been thought as future problem. There has been a significant increase in academies and workshops to provide an earlyexposure to engineering, which is recognized as a way to prepare K-12 for

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Education: Underclass Years

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Bullard, North Carolina State University; Donald Visco, Tennessee Technological University; David Silverstein, University of Kentucky; Jason Keith, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

associated with students who enroll inengineering programs. In particular Steele notes that “students who major in science,technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM] seem to have additional transitionalconcerns beyond the normal developmental tasks.”43 She highlights specific concerns forSTEM students, including making the transition from high school to the rigors of collegework, questioning their choice of major, and integrating academic and career advising. Page 15.1096.6Chemical Engineering LiteratureIn general, the chemical engineering literature has four classifications of articles that wecategorize as developing or sustaining a departmental

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Education: Underclass Years

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Valerie Young, Ohio University-Athens

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

learn about engineering as a career 21 % option not provided Page 15.1118.6Table 3. Top reasons NOT to enroll in Engineering Freshmen Learning Community Electronic Survey (n=8)Didn’t know about it 50 %Didn’t need academic support 50 %Table 4. Would recommend enrolling in Engineering Freshmen Learning Community to others Yes NoElectronic survey, EFLC participants (n=14) 11 (79 %) 3 (21 %)Electronic survey, EFLC non-participants (n=8) 1 (13 %) 6 (75

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Education: Upperclass Years

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Bullard, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

guest speakerswho can help students understand the application of what they are learning in theprofession. Depending on the focus of the course, this could include both “traditional”speakers who directly address topics related to process design and operation, as well asengineering graduates who have had non-traditional careers (medicine, law, pharmacy,business, teaching, or entrepreneurship). Financial planning, business and electronicetiquette, and professional dress are issues which students will soon face. Alumni panelson “Making the Transition from Student to Employee”, “Changing Jobs”, and “GraduateSchool” can be a very effective way to address these issues

Conference Session

Contemporary Issues in Chemical Engineering Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Zollars, Washington State University; Christopher Hundhausen, Washington State University; Pawan agrawal, Washington State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

being an important skill in its own right, theability to map a written problem to a visual diagram allows students to continue learningusing their preferred learning style. By creating a tool to aid in transforming writteninformation into visual images, we believed that we could help students develop anessential skill that they will need not only in the material and energy balance class, butthroughout their careers as engineers.Development of a Software Tool To provide this scaffolding we wished to design a software tool that would aid inthe transition from written to visual to mathematical representations. Such a task faces afundamental challenge: how to provide students with enough guidance that they canmaster the skill, without giving

Conference Session

Contemporary Issues in Chemical Engineering Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Keith, Michigan Technological University; Daniel Crowl, Michigan Technological University; David Caspary, Michigan Technological University; Jeffrey Allen, Michigan Technological University; Jeff Naber, Michigan Technological University; Dennis Meng, Michigan Technological University; Abhijit Mukherjee, Michigan Technological University; John Lukowski, Michigan Technological University; Jay Meldrum, Michigan Technological University; Barry Solomon, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

literature hasproven that students learn by doing, through team-based interactive projects3-8.It is noted that the Alternative Fuels Group Enterprise is one of over twenty enterprises oncampus. The Enterprise program is an opportunity for teams of students from various disciplines(such as chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineering, as well as business) and differentlevels of their academic careers (sophomore, junior, and senior) to work in a business-like settingto solve real-world problems. Each Enterprise is intended to operate like a real company in theprivate sector and is run by the students with faculty supervision.The Alternative Fuels Group has been in existence since fall 2002. Students can enroll inenterprise project work courses in

Conference Session

Learning By Doing in Chemical Engineering Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Larry Glasgow, Kansas State University; David Soldan, Kansas State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

(Award Number 0837352). The authors are gratefulfor this support.Literature Cited Page 15.1018.121. Grose, T. K. “The Mechanics of a Career,” ASEE Prism, 14:25 (2005).2. Zaslow, J. “Plugged In, but Tuned Out: Getting Kids to Connect to the Non-Virtual World,” WallStreet Journal, October 6 (2005).3. Mc Dermott, L. C. and P. S. Shaffer. “Research as a Guide for Curriculum Development: An Examplefrom Introductory Electricity, Part 1,” American Journal of Physics, 60:994 (1992).4. Finkelstein, N. D. “Context in the Context of Physics and Learning,” nfinkels@ucsd.edu (2001).5. Wankat, P. and F. Oreovicz. “Gaming the Curriculum,” ASEE Prism, 15:48 (2005).6

Conference Session

Contemporary Issues in Chemical Engineering Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Milo Koretsky, Oregon State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

accomplish certain parts on my own.While another student said of Laboratory 7: This Lab applied skills that I can see myself using in my career. And allowed me to relate process control to statistical analysis of the process.There were many responses that connected a real world context to conceptual understanding asthose cited above. However, the following response indicates a student who has more difficultywith this approach: It (Laboratory 9) was the first lab where we already had an opportunity to grasp the concepts we needed to use in the lab before we started. so that instead of struggling to develop an understanding of the concepts while we were working through the lab we were able to preemptively apply our knowledge