Education for Chemical Engineers最新文献

The extent to which learners have scope and opportunity to direct and influence their own approach to learning activities, what may be termed ‘learner agency’, has been shown to be important for students across many disciplines, in developing key advanced skills and qualities such as self-efficacy, critical thinking, resilience and innovative problem-solving. Employers unsurprisingly value graduates able to exhibit and cope with agency in their approach to work through such elements as self-learning ability, capacity to formulate and solve open-ended problems, coping with unfamiliar situations, and effective teamwork. Here, through a student-led and student-designed research project using questionnaire and interview methodology, we explore via the perceptions of students themselves how a typical UK Chemical Engineering BEng/MEng curriculum provides opportunities for agency and how students feel they cope with agency. We examine the curriculum class-by-class and year-by-year, studying correlations and patterns in the types of learning activity which students perceive as enabling them to exert influence and control over learning. In follow-up one-to-one interviews we further examine the link between perceived degree of agency and critical thinking skills, as measured by standardized scales, to explore how perceived agency-delivering activities may correlate with actual developments in thinking styles and skills.

Green engineering education is of great significance. The development of the chemical industry has a new direction under the background of engineering back to green engineering and chemistry. The undergraduate graduation chemical design is an important course for the comprehensive application of professional knowledge and bridging to the actual production, and also important support for the cultivation of chemical talent. This paper presents a case in which the improvement of ethyl acrylate process design can be selected as a topic of undergraduate graduation chemical design, which has both an industrial production process foundation that student can learn and engineering design innovation under the guidance of the green engineering concept. After the design study, the results show that the process design of ethyl acrylate supported by new clean catalysis and membrane separation technologies has been improved in reducing process complexity and improving environmental friendliness. Furthermore, the teaching result indicates that the process design reinforces students' green engineering thinking and provides a green engineering teaching format for chemical design.

Educators in chemical engineering have a long and rich history of employing digital tools to solve fundamental engineering problems. Today, with the megatrend of digitalisation, there is a growing set of tools that can be used for chemical engineering education. However, identifying which tool is ideally suited to support teaching a given chemical engineering concept can be challenging. To answer this question a survey was distributed to Heads of Departments at IChemE institutions and members of the IChemE committees focused on digitalisation. The survey respondents rated Microsoft Excel (VBA), commercial simulators, and scripting tools as ideal for teaching core subjects such as mass and energy balances, mass transfer and reaction engineering while respondents found 3D Models, and Virtual/Augmented Reality models as being most suited for teaching subjects such as process design, safety and sustainability. Mathematical/programming simplicity, ease of maintenance, and low initial investment costs were identified as key non-technical aspects that will hinder the adoption of a given digital tool. Weighing the benefits of education and non-technical hurdles, the respondents preferred the use of simpler digitalisation platforms such as Excel and scripting languages over the more advanced platforms such as Virtual/Augmented Reality where possible. It was identified that the widespread adoption of more advanced digitalisation tools will require removal of the above mentioned non-technical barriers as well as other barriers such as tool shareability.

Thermodynamics studies the nature of energy and its forms of existence and transmission between systems. Exergy, as part of the Thermodynamics program in Chemical Engineering, plays a fundamental role in the development and promotion of processes related to energy saving. However, an analysis of the programs of Thermodynamics and related subjects for the Chemical Engineering degree in many Argentine universities revealed that there are few programs that include exergy as a component part of a Thermodynamics taught course, and those that do often use the few textbooks that address the subject. In this sense, a total of 92 textbooks have been counted as bibliography for the teaching of Thermodynamics/Physical Chemistry in Chemical Engineering. Out of that total, 39 books appear in at least two course programs, while the remaining 53 are less known books, and are cited by only one program. Of the 39 most widely used books, only 14 include the topic of exergy. On the other hand, the statistics of grades obtained by students in Thermodynamics indicate a low performance in the understanding of exergy. The results of exams showed deficiencies in different theoretical aspects related to the understanding of the topic with percentages of failure of 60%, 47% and 21% in three different evaluation instances. Moreover, the total percentage of students who could not solve the exergy problems or solved it with errors was significantly higher (> 67%) than the percentage of those who managed to solve it correctly (< 20%). In this work, a pedagogical proposal for the teaching of Exergy was formulated, contemplating the learning axes of the theoretical framework, the language and the nature of Thermodynamics. It is intended that this proposal serves teachers to promote a meaningful learning of exergy for Chemical Engineering students.

This study highlights the potential benefits of integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into chemical engineering education. In this study, Chat-GPT, a user-friendly LLM, is used as a problem-solving tool. Chemical engineering education has traditionally focused on fundamental knowledge in the classroom with limited opportunities for hands-on problem-solving. To address this issue, our study proposes an LLMs-assisted problem-solving procedure. This approach promotes critical thinking, enhances problem-solving abilities, and facilitates a deeper understanding of core subjects. Furthermore, incorporating programming into chemical engineering education prepares students with vital Industry 4.0 skills for contemporary industrial practices. During our experimental lecture, we introduced a simple example of building a model to calculate steam turbine cycle efficiency, and assigned projects to students for exploring the possible use of LLMs in solving various aspect of chemical engineering problems. Although it received mixed feedback from students, it was found to be an accessible and practical tool for improving problem-solving efficiency. Analyzing the student projects, we identified five common difficulties and misconceptions and provided helpful suggestions for overcoming them. Our course has limitations regarding using advanced tools and addressing complex problems. We further provide two additional examples to better demonstrate how to integrate LLMs into core courses. We emphasize the importance of universities, professors, and students actively embracing and utilizing LLMs as tools for chemical engineering education. Students must develop critical thinking skills and a thorough understanding of the principles behind LLMs, taking responsibility for their use and creations. This study provides valuable insights for enhancing chemical engineering education's learning experience and outcomes by integrating LLMs.

In 2021, Universidad de la República in Uruguay approved a new Chemical Engineering undergraduate program that incorporates novel conceptual definitions such as competency-based education. This paper describes the process of defining the new curriculum plan and presents the program's structure, as well as specific and cross-disciplinary competencies. These competencies are then compared to the learning outcomes established in the guide for programs accreditation of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. To provide practical examples of how the competency-based approach was incorporated into the program, three specific cases are presented. The first case focuses on the implementation of the internship and industry project. The second case illustrates the incorporation of computational tools as an essential part of different courses throughout the degree program. Finally, the third case describes a new design for the fluid mechanics laboratory that emphasizes hands-on learning and helps students develop several competencies.

Recently, the Brazilian Ministry of Education issued New Curriculum Guidelines for engineering programs. This paper encompasses a pedagogical intervention reflecting our efforts to incorporate these new guidelines into our engineering program. Specifically, this work has led to the competency-based rework of the following subjects offered in the Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Program at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp): I) Modeling and Systems Analysis; II) Synthesis and Optimization of Chemical Processes; III) Chemical Process Simulation; IV) Process Analysis and Control; V) Chemical Process Design; and VI) Chemical Installations Design. Thirteen transdisciplinary competencies are integrated throughout the six subjects. Students highlighted design thinking, lifelong knowledge/learning, openness to act autonomously, teamwork, communication, and cooperation as essential qualities. Moreover, the greater focus on the process systems engineering approach involving the analysis, synthesis, design, and control of sustainable processes helps chemical engineers to face new challenges using renewable resources.

Global engineering education addresses the development of professional competencies in undergraduates to prepare professionals capable of solving complex technical problems under social, environmental, and economic challenges. In this work, training was carried out to incorporate the bioprocess research of the chemical engineering students at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellin, Colombia, using a project-based learning methodology (PBL). An open call was made to the students, and they were challenged to build a prototype which they had to support together with a written report as evidence for their admission to the research hotbed and assign them research projects in bioprocesses. In the last decade, 276 students participated in the hotbed generating 21 conference presentations, four software, 14 research articles, and 16 academic awards. In parallel, a survey was conducted to analyze the perception of graduates participating in the hotbed according to a list of 17 competency criteria relevant to the chemical engineering program. It was found that the average perception is at the highest levels (4−5), which indicates that most of the graduates value the significant contribution made by the CIBIOT hotbed to the development of a professional in experimentation, communication, and acquisition of new knowledge.

The COVID-19 pandemic created significant challenges in operating the lab component of undergraduate courses and promoting active learning, with only a short time available to implement alternative teaching methods. In this work a low-cost platform for distance operation and assessment of replaceable bench-scale heat exchangers was developed to provide students an opportunity to observe the transient and steady-state behavior of heat exchangers while unable to access lab facilities. Each workbench had a new material cost of approximately C$5 000. Operation of physical equipment provided students the opportunity to observe non-ideal behavior and compare various heat transfer correlations which may not be seen in process simulators. The developed platform implemented an Arduino microcontroller for low-cost process control. Equipment was seamlessly slotted in to the existing course upon the return to on-campus learning and provided a more stable system when compared to previously existing lab experiments. Most learning outcomes were observed in remote and in-lab experiments and challenges faced in remote operation are highlighted. No statistically significant difference was observed in student performance between students completing lab experiments remotely and students completing experiments in-lab.

The integration of product-based learning strategies in Materials in Chemical Engineering education is crucial for students to gain the skills and competencies required to thrive in the emerging circular bioeconomy. Traditional materials engineering education has often relied on a transmission teaching approach, in which students are expected to passively receive information from instructors. However, this approach has shown to be inadequate under the current circumstances, in which information is readily available and innovative tools such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality environments are becoming widespread (e.g., metaverse). Instead, we consider that a critical goal of education should be to develop aptitudes and abilities that enable students to generate solutions and products that address societal demands. In this work, we propose innovative strategies, such as product-based learning methods and GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) artificial intelligence text generation models, to modify the focus of a Materials in Chemical Engineering course from non-sustainable materials to sustainable ones, aiming to address the critical challenges of our society. This approach aims to achieve two objectives: first to enable students to actively engage with raw materials and solve real-world challenges, and second, to foster creativity and entrepreneurship skills by providing them with the necessary tools to conduct brainstorming sessions and develop procedures following scientific methods. The incorporation of circular bioeconomy concepts, such as renewable resources, waste reduction, and resource efficiency into the curriculum provides a framework for students to understand the environmental, social, and economic implications in Chemical Engineering. It also allows them to make informed decisions within the circular bioeconomy framework, benefiting society by promoting the development and adoption of sustainable technologies and practices.