Pillars of Chemical Engineering: A Block Scheduled Curriculum

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will undertake department level reform of the Chemical Engineering program at the University of Pittsburgh. The goals of the new curriculum are to (a) Give the students a strong fundamental foundation by concentrating on the essential core of scientific and engineering basics in a given discipline.(b) Enhance systems thinking by helping students to integrate their knowledge across courses and disciplines so that they are better prepared to address open-ended problems; and (c) Prepare and provide for continuing education and life-long learning. Specifically, the project will: 1. Modularize and integrate the critical "core" of Chemical Engineering (including mass balances, thermodynamics, kinetics, separations, transport phenomena, process systems, control, laboratory, and design) into six Pillar courses. 2. Re-evaluate and re-align supporting courses (mathematics, chemistry, physics, and biology) and elective courses into application-focused tracks. 3. Re-align each individual course so that, in addition to the traditional macroscopic and continuum-level descriptions, we also include "sub-continuum", molecular or "fundamental unit" analysis. The intellectual merit in the proposal lies both in the integration of successful pedagogical techniques from K-12 education -- Block Scheduling -- into the University environment, as well as in our state-of-the-art assessment of these efforts. Overall the proposal will introduce emerging Chemical Engineering knowledge/practice (molecular and multi-scale focus as well as track-based case studies/electives), eliminate legacy material, expose students to practical computational methods (including integration of CAD-based macroscopically focused software -- e.g., ASPEN -- as well as molecularly focused software -- e.g., Accelrys -- into most courses), and allow the time to effectively incorporate modern teaching methods (team-based and experience-based learning, computer simulation, etc.). The broader impact of the work lies in integration of research and teaching, enhancement of diversity, infrastructure development, and the fostering of partnerships. During the course of the project numerous undergraduate students will work closely with faculty and instructional designers. The courseware developed to support the 6 Pillar courses will be made readily available on our departmental web site, so that it may be utilized (and modified) by other institutions -- fostering partnerships. The proposed work will enhance infrastructure through the generation of course materials that are easily portable to many institutions. Findings of the research will be disseminated at national societal conferences (AIChE, ASEE) as well as on our departmental web page (http://www.che.pitt.edu). Additionally, results will be published in traditional engineering education journals (JEE, CEE, etc.).