Results from the AIChE Education Annual Survey: Chemical Engineering Electives

Margot A. Vigeant; David L. Silverstein

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Conference: 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Publication Date: June 15, 2014
Start Date: June 15, 2014
End Date: June 18, 2014
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Curriculum Development and Assessment in Chemical Engineering
Tagged Division: Chemical Engineering
Page Count: 11
Page Numbers: 24.1050.1 - 24.1050.11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--22983
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/22983
Download Count: 432

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Paper Authors

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Margot A. Vigeant Bucknell University

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Margot is a professor of chemical engineering and an associate dean of the college of engineering at Bucknell University. Her interests include conceptual learning in engineering, active, collaborative, and problem-based learning, and how the use of technology and games can engage students.

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biography

David L. Silverstein P.E. University of Kentucky

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David L. Silverstein is the PJC Engineering Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Kentucky. He is also the Director of the College of Engineering's Extended Campus Programs in Paducah, Kentucky, where he has taught for 14 years. His PhD and MS studies in ChE were completed at Vanderbilt University, and his BSChE at the University of Alabama. Silverstein's research interests include conceptual learning tools and training, and he has particular interests in faculty development. He is the recipient of several ASEE awards, including the Fahein award for young faculty teaching and educational scholarship, the Cororan award for best article in the journal Chemical Engineering Education (twice), and the Martin award for best paper in the ChE Division at the ASEE Annual Meeting.

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Abstract

The AIChE Education Division survey committee continues the tradition of an annual national survey to better understand the current state of a particular aspect of the chemical engineering curriculum. In 2013, the committee asked departments about chemical engineering electives. This paper summarizes the results from the multiple choice survey as well as from selected answers to a long-‐form follow up survey sent to volunteer departments. We defined “chemical engineering electives” as courses offered by the chemical engineering department or faculty that may be taken by undergraduate students but are not specifically required in order to graduate. The word that best fits chemical engineering electives is “diverse”. It might be argued that the clearest differentiator between chemical engineering undergraduate programs is the set of areas highlighted by their elective offerings. Nearly 100 different elective course topics were reported by the 96 programs responding to the survey. The most popular topical offerings are in Polymer Science, Bioprocess Engineering, Nanomaterials, and Advanced Transport. Typically, undergraduates are expected to take 2-‐3 chemical engineering elective courses, although the range spans from zero to 6. It should be noted that the programs requiring zero chemical engineering electives usually require instead “technical”, “engineering”, or “science” electives in similar quantity to the chemical engineering electives offered by other departments. In addition to the numerical summary results, we will also report on department chairs’ responses to the administrative question of how topics are selected, integrated, or removed from year to year.

Citation
Format

Vigeant, M. A., & Silverstein, D. L. (2014, June), Results from the AIChE Education Annual Survey: Chemical Engineering Electives Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--22983

TY - CPAPER
AB - The AIChE Education Division survey committee continues the tradition of an annual national survey to better understand the current state of a particular aspect of the chemical engineering curriculum. In 2013, the committee asked departments about chemical engineering electives. This paper summarizes the results from the multiple choice survey as well as from selected answers to a long-‐form follow up survey sent to volunteer departments. We defined “chemical engineering electives” as courses offered by the chemical engineering department or faculty that may be taken by undergraduate students but are not specifically required in order to graduate. The word that best fits chemical engineering electives is “diverse”. It might be argued that the clearest differentiator between chemical engineering undergraduate programs is the set of areas highlighted by their elective offerings. Nearly 100 different elective course topics were reported by the 96 programs responding to the survey. The most popular topical offerings are in Polymer Science, Bioprocess Engineering, Nanomaterials, and Advanced Transport. Typically, undergraduates are expected to take 2-‐3 chemical engineering elective courses, although the range spans from zero to 6. It should be noted that the programs requiring zero chemical engineering electives usually require instead “technical”, “engineering”, or “science” electives in similar quantity to the chemical engineering electives offered by other departments. In addition to the numerical summary results, we will also report on department chairs’ responses to the administrative question of how topics are selected, integrated, or removed from year to year.
AU - Margot A. Vigeant
AU - David L. Silverstein P.E.
CY - Indianapolis, Indiana
DA - 2014/06/15
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Results from the AIChE Education Annual Survey: Chemical Engineering Electives
UR - https://peer.asee.org/22983
DO - 10.18260/1-2--22983
ER -