Evaluating the problem-solving skills of graduating chemical engineering students

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 68-77
Author(s):  
Eric Burkholder ◽  
Lisa Hwang ◽  
Carl Wieman
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
Problem Solving Skills

Language aspects of engineering students' view of entropy

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesper Haglund ◽  
Staffan Andersson ◽  
Maja Elmgren
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Internal Energy ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Ideal Gas ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Chemical Thermodynamics ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Chemistry Students

Entropy is a central concept in thermodynamics, but has been found to be challenging to students due to its abstract nature and the fact that it is not part of students' everyday language. Interviews with three pairs of engineering students (N= 6) were conducted and video recorded regarding their interpretation and use of the entropy concept, one year after a course on chemical thermodynamics. From a syntax perspective, students were asked to assess whether different sentences involving temperature, internal energy, and entropy make sense. With a focus on semantics, they were asked to rank a set of notions with regards to how closely they are related to entropy, how scientific they are, and how useful they are for explaining what entropy is. From a pragmatics point of view, students were asked to solve two qualitative problems, which involve entropy. The results show that these chemistry students regard internal energy, but not entropy, as a substance-like entity. The students' ranking of how closely related to entropy notions are and how useful they are for explaining entropy was found to be strongly negatively correlated to how scientific the notions were seen to be. For example, disorder was seen as highly unscientific, but very useful for explaining entropy. In the problem-solving tasks, Chemical Engineering students were comfortable relating entropy to enthalpy and Gibbs free energy, the three notions being seen to form a “trinity” in thermodynamics. However, the students had challenges grasping the unchanged entropy in reversible, adiabatic expansion of an ideal gas, in which they did not consider how entropy relates to the second law of thermodynamics. In final reflections on their learning processes, the students saw weak connections between their problem-solving skills and their conceptual understanding of entropy, although acknowledging that both aspects of learning are important.

scholarly journals TRANSLATING PROBLEM STATEMENTS INTO ACTIONABLE SOLUTION PROCEDURE: DEVELOPING PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Meunier ◽  
Nicolas Hudon
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
Solution Procedure ◽  
Mathematical Framework ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Confidence Levels ◽  
Traditional Lectures ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Instruction Methodology

Junior-level chemical engineering students often struggle with solving problems in fundamental undergraduate courses. This deficiency is generally attributed, by instructors and students alike, to gaps in mathematical knowledge. However, the difficulty may instead be rooted in an inability to interpret the information from problem statements. In this contribution, a coordinated, multi-faceted instruction methodology is proposed, over a sequence of second-year chemical engineering fundamental courses, to foster the development of problem-solving strategies and to increase the confidence of students in their abilities to decipher problem data, to develop a proper mathematical framework, and to apply a first-principle approach to problem solving. Compared with traditional lectures alone, obstacles to problem solving may be overcome when students are offered additional learning streams in the form of interactive workshops and video-recorded examples. This results in raised confidence levels toward translating problems into actionable solution procedure.

scholarly journals Introducing High School Students to Engineering Fundamentals by Four Weeks Engineering Innovation Summer Program

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pawan Tyagi ◽  
Christine Newman
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
School Science ◽  
High School Science ◽  
School Students ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
High School Science Teacher

Preparing high school students for engineering disciplines is crucial for sustainable scientific and technological developments in the USA. This paper discusses a pre-college program, which not only exposes students to various engineering disciplines but also enables them to consider engineering as the profession. The four-week long “Engineering Innovation (EI)” course is offered every year to high school students by the center of outreach, Johns Hopkins University. EI program is designed to develop problem-solving skills through extensive hands-on engineering experiments. A team consisting of an instructor, generally a PhD in Engineering, and a teaching fellow, generally a high school science teacher, closely work with students to pedagogically inculcate basics of core engineering disciplines such as civil, mechanical, electrical, materials, and chemical engineering. EI values independent problem-solving skills and simultaneously promote the team spirit among students. A number of crucial engineering aspects such as professional ethics, communications, technical writing, and understanding of common engineering principles are inculcated among high school students via well-designed individual and group activities. This paper discusses the model of EI program and its impact on students learning and their preparation for the engineering career.

scholarly journals A Structured 8 Disciplines Methodology To Develop Problem Solving Skills Among Engineering Students During Internship :A Systematic Literature Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 8-11
Author(s):  
MURUGAN SUBRAMANIAM ◽  
Muhammad Khair Noordin
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Industrial Environment ◽  
Current Survey ◽  
Increase Productivity ◽  
The Moment

Current survey shows there are 1 out of 5 graduates are unemployed (Site, 2018). Lack of non technical skills among graduates be one of the main reason for unemployment.Data shows Problem Solving Skills is the second most important non technical skill sought by employers (To et al., 2019); The studies show that the problems cannot be solved by using the same kind of thinking approach applied at the moment it was created. Therefore, a systematic analytical skill is required to handle the engineering related problems happening at manufacturing environment or engineering workplace. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existing literature about Problem Solving skills for graduate engineers through a systematic literature review. This paper analyses literature through electronic databases mainly from Scopus and Web of Science. This paper summarizes types of problem solving skills applied in the engineering field as of now. Based on that, engineers can differentiate and understand the approach of the problem solving skills in the industrial environment to improve the failures and increase productivity.

Using problem-based learning as an instructional approach in enhancing problem solving skills between engineering and business

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.9) ◽  
pp. 174
Author(s):  
Zulida Abdul Kadir ◽  
Nor Hazana Abdullah ◽  
Rosmahalil Azrol Abdullah ◽  
Fadillah Ismail ◽  
Adibah Abdul Kadir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Instructional Tool ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Quasi Experimental

Problem-based Learning (PBL) is one of an emerging student-centered approach in Malaysia. PBL has been proven to be one of the best approaches in helping students improve their soft skills. Complaints received from industry stating that many graduates are lacking of problem solving skills. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify whether students’ problem solving skills could be improved using PBL as an instructional tool. A quasi-experimental interrupted time series design was used involving fifty students from business and engineering faculties in a premier Technical University in Malaysia. Students were given four treatments or problems and were assessed based on accuracy and quality of solutions of the problem given. Results show that business students enhanced their problem solving skills better than engineering students. The findings support previous findings on the effectiveness of PBL on problem solving skills. This finding substantiates the use of PBL as an effective instructional tool to improve students’ problem solving abilities. 

How to develop engineering students' problem solving skills using cooperative problem based learning (CPBL)

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (3) ◽  
pp. 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khairiyah Mohd-Yusof ◽  
Fatin Aliah Phang ◽  
Syed Ahmad Helmi
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Problem Solving Skills
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