Building from its planning grant the Department of Chemical
Engineering (ChE) at Texas A&M University (TAMU) has identified the student outcomes, educational principles,
underlying motivations, and strategies for addressing current and future
challenges in ChE undergraduate education. The Department will restructure its four-year
curriculum so its graduates can:
a)
apply fundamental ideas over a greatly expanded
range of time and length scales,
b)
apply knowledge to a greatly expanded set of
applications areas including biotechnology, nanotechnology, informatics, and
semiconductor fabrication
c)
more capably address open-ended synthesis
problems
d)
move into new areas by
transferring fundamentals and information to novel challenges.
Restructuring will be based on principles from the
science of learning and will be accomplished through integrated assessment,
content renewal, and student and faculty development.
Intellectual
Merit. The intellectual
merit of this proposal is fivefold
·
Help students to construct a conceptual framework based on the conservation laws and accounting balances approach. This framework, already demonstrated to be
valuable in the freshman/sophomore years at TAMU, will be extended throughout
the curriculum. Student learning with respect
to the framework will be supported through both a spiral approach and a unique
modular approach.
·
Four course strings are developed in which
students revisit the same concept at increasingly higher levels of learning to
encourage learning development of a powerful conceptual framework.
·
Employ a different approach to modular curricula
that strengthens framework cohesiveness. Interlinked curriculum components that span courses and application areas will reinforce applicability of
the conceptual framework across a wide variety of problems.
·
Introduce state-of-the-art synthesis and systems
methodologies throughout the curriculum empowering students to systematically
decompose complex open-ended problems into tractable tasks.
·
Promote a scholarly approach to teaching and
learning among Department faculty. Consistent use of portfolios, assessment techniques, and peer review
throughout curriculum development activities will engage faculty in a
community-centered effort intended for sustained change.
Broader Impact. Three broader impacts are related to student development and the
subsequent impact this will have on the field (and subsequently society)
·
Department faculty will incorporate innovative
pedagogies, such as teams, cooperative learning, and project-based learning, that provide greater social and contextual support
for learning. Their increased support
for context and learning and appreciation for human-oriented applications
improve learning for all students, especially women and underrepresented minorities.
·
Incorporating emerging application areas, such
as biotechnology, helps learners appreciate how their knowledge and skills
affect a broad range of human endeavors, including health sciences and global
issues
·
Curricular changes, long overdue in view of the
rapid changes in chemical engineering practice will help the profession to move
forward. Since Chemical Engineering attracts
high percentages of women and underrepresented minorities, curricular changes
should increase the percentages of these groups in engineering
·
An Academic Advisory Board will provide more ChE educational perspectives and input into development and
revision of the ICCs and other deliverables.
National workshops for textbook authors and chemical engineering educators will catalyze incorporation of innovative curriculum content in new versions of textbooks.
The development of this page is sponsored by the National Science Foundation through an Engineering Departmental Level Reform grant.
copyright 2006, Texas A&M Chemical Engineering Department, all rights reserved

