Conference Session

Improving Laboratory Education in Chemical Engineering

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew Cooper, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

arbitration of a helpful instructor4, 14-16.Despite the importance of UO courses in chemical engineering programs, many faculty membersavoid opportunities to teach them. Myriad time-consuming and (at times) frustrating tasks arerequired of the UO instructor, including assigning student teams, preparing students forlaboratories, grading reports, and assessing peer evaluation results. Since faculty are often busywith other commitments such as research, grant writing, student advising, etc., it isunderstandable that instructors feel they do not have the time available to do an excellent jobteaching UO courses15, 16.Considering the importance of UO courses to the ChE curriculum, it would be ideal to relieve thepressure of time constraints upon

Conference Session

Improving Laboratory Education in Chemical Engineering

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joshua A Enszer, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

lab report is due every week from design teams; these reports are graded quickly usingan electronic form for feedback so that the instructor distills comments to the most importantareas for improvement, rather than noting every detail that is out of place. This rubric is providedas Appendix C. Students are required to individually reflect on their group’s performance in thelab and in their writing by explaining which parts of the instructor’s feedback they consideredmost important and how they would improve for future reports. (8) A peer and self evaluation isdue through CATME (9) after every other lab.A final exam is conducted at the end of the term. This exam is designed to largely emphasizeconcepts from the professionalism and laboratory

Conference Session

Improving Introductory Experiences in Chemical Engineering

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard L. Zollars, Washington State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

discussion and feedback. Third, students’ peers critique their solutions andprovide comments. Finally, students are given the opportunity to respond to these comments and Page 24.1135.2criticisms, and to modify their solutions appropriately. Note that SBL, as defined above, differs from a variety of other instructional techniques that also use the terminology “studio”. Among the more notable is the Scale-Up4 program introduced at North single or individual or

Conference Session

Improving Introductory Experiences in Chemical Engineering

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gladis Chávez-Torrejón, Universidad de las Americas Puebla; Silvia Husted, Universidad de las Americas Puebla; Nelly Ramirez-Corona, Universidad de las Americas Puebla; Aurelio Lopez-Malo, Universidad de las Americas Puebla; Enrique Palou, Universidad de las Americas Puebla

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

paper describes how a second semester cornerstone course is fostering the development ofcritical thinking in Chemical, Food, and Environmental Engineering students at Universidad delas Américas Puebla (Mexico) by developing students’ self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. Course two major projects were presented to experts inthe field that assessed students’ critical thinking by means of a specialized rubric3. Instructor,peer-, and self-assessments were also performed throughout the course on several assignments(formative) as well as on two major projects (summative). Possible performance levels werefrom exemplary (value 4, skilled, marked by excellence in clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance,depth