Work in Progress: Implementation of a Curricular Development Project for Experiential Learning in a Senior Capstone Product-Design Course

Chris Barr; Taylor Ashley Dotto; Joseph Gilbert Restivo; Christina Said; Rinrada Watchara; Laura Hirshfield; Elaine C Wisniewski; Xiaoxia Nina Lin

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: WIP: Student Success and Sustainability
Tagged Division: Chemical Engineering Division (ChED)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48498

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Paper Authors

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Chris Barr University of Michigan orcid.org/0000-0002-2938-2896

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Dr. Christopher Barr is the Instructional Laboratory Supervisor in the Chemical Engineering Department at University of Michigan. He obtained his Ph.D. at University of Toledo in 2013 and is a former Fellow in the N.S.F. GK-12 grant "Graduate Teaching Fellows in STEM High School Education: An Environmental Science Learning Community at the Land-Lake Ecosystem Interface". His main responsibilities are supervising and implementing improvements to the undergraduate labs. He also serves as secondary instructor for the CHE labs, the Departmental Safety Coordinator, and lead for the SAFEChE (Process Safety Across the CHE Curriculum) modules as well as the Visual Encyclopedia of Chemical Engineering Equipment. Currently, he serves as a Director for the ASEE ChE Division.

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Laura Hirshfield is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Michigan. She received her B.S. from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. from Purdue University, both in chemical engineering. She then transitioned into the engineering education fie

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Elaine C Wisniewski University of Michigan

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Elaine Wisniewski teaches technical communication courses in the Chemical Engineering and Industrial and Operations Engineering (IOE) departments. She has degrees in IOE and Technical Communication from the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan Univ

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Xiaoxia Nina Lin University of Michigan

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Abstract

In 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released their report on New Directions for Chemical Engineering [1]. In this report, a section on curricular reform included recommendations “that would help students understand how individual core concepts merge into the practice of chemical engineering” and “include earlier and more frequent experiential learning through physical laboratories and virtual simulations” as well as other recommendations.

In previous surveys, some undergraduate chemical engineering seniors at the authors’ institution have expressed the importance of the lab courses in understanding theory and a desire for incorporation of diverse learning styles including earlier hands-on experiences within core classes. A number of papers have advocated for inclusion of the student voice within higher education curricular development [2,3]. Upper-level students have a unique viewpoint as they understand challenges that they and their classmates faced in understanding topics and intimately know the content and structure of courses taught within the department.

With these viewpoints in mind, the authors have implemented a student-led product design project focusing on development of products/modules for hands-on or experiential learning, which can be integrated into core chemical engineering courses. At the authors’ institution, product design is a full-year senior capstone course which includes a prototyping lab and serves as an alternative to the traditional process design capstone course. The students working on the project self-selected into this topic and are being mentored by the authors whose diverse backgrounds encompass instruction of several core ChE courses, research within the engineering education domain, and experience within experiential learning. This paper will detail the full-year process of a student-led curricular development project focused on hands-on or experiential learning within a senior capstone product design course, including student feedback on the experience.

Citation
Format

Barr, C., & Dotto, T. A., & Restivo, J. G., & Said, C., & Watchara, R., & Hirshfield, L., & Wisniewski, E. C., & Lin, X. N. (2024, June), Work in Progress: Implementation of a Curricular Development Project for Experiential Learning in a Senior Capstone Product-Design Course Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48498

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - In 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released their report on New Directions for Chemical Engineering [1]. In this report, a section on curricular reform included recommendations “that would help students understand how individual core concepts merge into the practice of chemical engineering” and “include earlier and more frequent experiential learning through physical laboratories and virtual simulations” as well as other recommendations. 

In previous surveys, some undergraduate chemical engineering seniors at the authors’ institution have expressed the importance of the lab courses in understanding theory and a desire for incorporation of diverse learning styles including earlier hands-on experiences within core classes. A number of papers have advocated for inclusion of the student voice within higher education curricular development [2,3]. Upper-level students have a unique viewpoint as they understand challenges that they and their classmates faced in understanding topics and intimately know the content and structure of courses taught within the department.

With these viewpoints in mind, the authors have implemented a student-led product design project  focusing on development of products/modules for hands-on or experiential learning, which can be integrated into core chemical engineering courses. At the authors’ institution, product design is a full-year senior capstone course which includes a prototyping lab and serves as an alternative to the traditional process design capstone course. The students working on the project self-selected into this topic and are being mentored by the authors whose diverse backgrounds encompass instruction of several core ChE courses, research within the engineering education domain, and experience within experiential learning. This paper will detail the full-year process of a student-led curricular development project focused on hands-on or experiential learning within a senior capstone product design course, including student feedback on the experience.
AU  - Chris Barr
AU  - Taylor Ashley Dotto
AU  - Joseph Gilbert Restivo
AU  - Christina Said
AU  - Rinrada Watchara
AU  - Laura Hirshfield
AU  - Elaine C Wisniewski
AU  - Xiaoxia Nina Lin
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Work in Progress: Implementation of a Curricular Development Project for Experiential Learning in a Senior Capstone Product-Design Course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/48498
ER  -