INTRODUCING DESIGN IN FIRST YEAR CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AT UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

Objective - This project sought to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in locating, retrieving, and citing information in order to deliver information skills workshops more effectively. Methods - Bibliographies submitted from first-year engineering and second- and fourth-year chemical engineering students’ project reports were analysed for the number of items cited, the variety of items cited, and the correct use of citation style. The topics of the project reports were also reviewed to see the relationships between the topics and the items cited. Results - The results show that upper level students cited more items in total than did lower level students in their bibliographies. Second- and fourth-year engineering students cited more books and journal articles than first-year students cited. Web sites were used extensively by all three groups of students, and for some first-year students these were the most frequently used sources. Students from all three groups had difficulties with citation style. Conclusion - There was a clear difference in citation frequency between upper and lower level engineering students. Different strategies of information skills instruction are needed for different levels of students. Librarians and department faculty members need to include good quality Internet resources in their teaching and to change the emphasis from finding information to finding, interpreting, and citing accurately.

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The Use of Applets in an Engineering Chemistry Course

Web-Based Engineering Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-61520-659-9.ch009 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 108-118

Author(s):

B.M. Trigo ◽

G.S. Olguin ◽

P.H.L.S. Matai

Keyword(s):

Cooperative Learning ◽

Learning Process ◽

Chemical Engineering ◽

First Year ◽

First Semester ◽

Software Applications ◽

Engineering Department ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

The University

This chapter deals with the use of Applets, which are examples of software applications, combined with a specific methodology of teaching, based on Paulo Freire’s education concepts. According to his methods, co-creation between its participants is fundamental for the effectiveness of learning process. In that way, to promote a cooperative learning, the Applet should have interactive features. The Chemistry course of Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, in which students take in the first semester of the first year of the engineering course, was the case study. First, a research with the teachers of the Chemical Engineering Department was carried out, to identify the main problems and difficulties teachers and students face. Then, a topic was selected to be explored with the Applet, which was developed and applied to a small group of students. To identify the success of this experiment a questionnaire was created and the results are presented in this chapter. Some conclusions were drawn and the interactive features of the Applet received a positive feedback.

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Project/Problem Based Learning in the Field of Materials, Food, and Chemical Engineering at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences

International Journal of Quality Assurance in Engineering and Technology Education ◽

10.4018/ijqaete.2015100103 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 39-46 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Carola Fortelius ◽

Marja-Leena Akerman

Keyword(s):

Applied Sciences ◽

Chemical Engineering ◽

Positive Response ◽

Problem Based Learning ◽

Independent Study ◽

First Year ◽

Cooperative Teaching ◽

University Of Applied Sciences ◽

Role Conceptions ◽

Learning Concept

Project/problem based learning (PPBL) has been applied at the department of Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, for a few years now. The authors' experiences from the PPBL with their first year Bachelor students are discussed in this paper. The problem based learning concept in connection with practical solutions for organizing the courses are contemplated critically. The authors found, that the new way to pursue studies in material, biotechnical and chemical engineering has meant a significant change for both students and educators. A positive response from the students could be seen in the form of augmentation of motivation and activity. Team skills have improved, as well as independent study capacity. Cooperative teaching and being more of a facilitator than a traditional instructor, also challenges the role conceptions for the educators.

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The introduction of an autumn and spring activity week into the first year of a chemical engineering undergraduate program in Malaysia

Education for Chemical Engineers ◽

10.1016/j.ece.2012.05.002 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. e125-e132 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

S. Gan ◽

S. Hanson ◽

D.G. Hassell ◽

C.L. Hii ◽

F. Kabir ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chemical Engineering ◽

First Year ◽

Undergraduate Program

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Assessing the enterprising tendencies of Arab female undergraduate engineering students in the Sultanate of Oman

Industry and Higher Education ◽

10.1177/0950422220903618 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 34 (6) ◽

pp. 429-439

Author(s):

Naveed Yasin ◽

Zeinab Khansari ◽

Taimur Sharif

Keyword(s):

Risk Taking ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Chemical Engineering ◽

Boot Camp ◽

First Year ◽

Need For Achievement ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Before And After ◽

Extended Duration ◽

The Impact

This study assesses the enterprising characteristics of first-year undergraduate Omani female chemical engineering students in Muscat, Oman. Pre and post surveys were conducted with 27 respondents from an entrepreneurship boot camp module mandated by the Oman Ministry of Higher Education. The variables, measured on a 10-point Likert scale, included need for achievement, need for autonomy, creativity, risk-taking, and locus of control. Statistical analysis was performed on the integrated data to measure the impact of student learning using a t-test approach and comparing mean averages. This was followed by qualitative semi-structured interviews that were examined using thematic analysis. The comparison of students’ enterprise tendencies before and after the module indicates minor to moderate improvements in their entrepreneurial abilities and their understanding of entrepreneurial behavior. The most noticeable impact was on students’ risk-taking abilities, followed by their creativity, need for achievement, need for control, and, lastly, their need for autonomy. The findings illustrate that students perceived entrepreneurship positively but were concerned about the scheduling of the module and its integration into their core program of study. Students may have benefited further from a module of extended duration as opposed to the block delivery “boot camp” mode of learning. Due to the limited number of participants and the focus on female students only, the results of the study cannot be generalized. However, the article presents an initial exploration of and offers insights into enterprising characteristics among an empirically underexplored demographic and nonbusiness group.

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Variations on the Theme of Information Literacy – Implementation of Information Literacy into the First-Year Curriculum at Åbo Akademi University

Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education ◽

10.15845/noril.v8i1.263 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 9-14

Author(s):

Eva Costiander-Huldén ◽

Linda Nisula ◽

Anna Sundberg

Keyword(s):

Information Literacy ◽

Study Skills ◽

Chemical Engineering ◽

First Year ◽

First Year Students ◽

Study Programme ◽

Literacy Implementation ◽

Search For Information ◽

The University ◽

First Time

How can information literacy (IL) courses be organized into the curriculum in the best possible way for first-year students at Finnish universities? This question has been discussed time and time again. At Åbo Akademi University we have, since fall 2015, developed a course in Academic study skills where IL is included in the course. This means that IL is now for the first time included in all study programmes at the university. The IL module is, however, implemented in different ways in different faculties. In this article, we will focus on the method of embedded learning of IL in the study programme of Chemical Engineering, as it was implemented during the fall semester 2015 for all freshmen. For the first time the library was involved in a “hands-on” project with practical tasks at the Faculty of Science and Engineering. The students were motivated to learn how to search for information and how to improve their skills in reference management, and they passed the course.

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Gender differences in chemical engineering students identified in understanding of rolling motion

Glasnik hemicara i tehnologa Bosne i Hercegovine ◽

10.35666/ghtbh.2020.54.06 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Conceptual Understanding ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Chemical Engineering ◽

Male Students ◽

First Year ◽

Rolling Motion ◽

Energy Principle ◽

First Year Students ◽

Engineering And Technology

In this research papaer we presented the results of exploration of gender differences in conceptual understanding of rolling motion (velocities and work-energy principle). For this purpose, we have selected nine conceptual items and conducted experiment with 184 first year students at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb. Results show that male students significantly outperformed female students. We detected particularly large differences on items that tests knowledge of the rolling phenomena. Results of our research can help teachers to create lessons that are adapted to general student population.

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Spreadsheet Instruction Within A First Year Chemical Engineering Course

10.18260/1-2--1061 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

William Josephson ◽

Jaya Krishnagopalan ◽

Nader Vahdat

Keyword(s):

Chemical Engineering ◽

First Year

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Evaluation of the Chemistry Knowledge of Students Entering the ETH Zurich with a Moodle Quiz

CHIMIA International Journal for Chemistry ◽

10.2533/chimia.2021.89 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 75 (1) ◽

pp. 89-97

Author(s):

Markus T. Müller ◽

Antonio Togni ◽

Carlo Thilgen

Keyword(s):

Organic Chemistry ◽

Secondary School ◽

School System ◽

Chemical Engineering ◽

Health Sciences ◽

Natural Sciences ◽

First Year ◽

Pharmaceutical Sciences ◽

First Year Students ◽

Fall Semester

The basic chemistry knowledge of first-year students in the disciplines Chemistry, Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Health Sciences and Technology has been evaluated within the first three weeks of the Fall semester with a Moodle-based quiz at ETH Zurich. It consists of 37 small problems testing the knowledge that ETH students entering the lecture courses General Chemistry 1 (Inorganic Chemistry) (AC1) and Organic Chemistry 1 (OC1) should ideally have. An initial set of questions was developed by Bernhard Jaun (ETH Zurich) in 2007, it was combined with questions from an evaluation created in 2015 by Markus Müller (secondary school II teacher). The results of a total of 925 students who took part in the 2016 and 2017 evaluations are presented. It was found that 80% of the students of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Natural Sciences (AC1 course) and 70% of the students of Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Health Sciences and Technology (OC1 course) scored ≥60%. Students who took the focus course (Schwerpunktfach) Biology and Chemistry at the SEK II level (Swiss school system) performed on average 13–18% better and with a smaller standard deviation than other students. No significant differences were observed with regard to gender or the region in which the qualification for university entrance was obtained.

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