Work in Progress: An Evaluation of a First-year Chemical Engineering Module on Students’ Curiosity and Connectivity

Julianne Vernon; Yin Huang

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Conference: 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual On line
Publication Date: June 22, 2020
Start Date: June 22, 2020
End Date: June 26, 2021
Conference Session: First-year Programs: Cornucopia #1
Tagged Division: First-Year Programs
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 8
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--35607
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/35607
Download Count: 407

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Paper Authors

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Julianne Vernon Vanderbilt University

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Assistant Dean Vernon works in the field of STEM educational research; some areas of focus include student retention and implementation of innovative pedagogy and technology. She is currently the Assistant Dean of Academic programs overseeing the First Year Courses, Study Abroad Programs, and International Initiatives at Vanderbilt University. She received her Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from the City College of New York and her Doctorate degree at University of Florida in Environmental Engineering. She has over 8 years of experience developing international and national research experiences for STEM majors, as well as project management.

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Yin Huang Vanderbilt University

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Abstract

This project will focus on the Chemical Engineering module of Introduction to Engineering. In the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Dept., two sections of the course have been offered previously. The style of the course has been predominately lecture-based. In this project, the intervention course was redesigned to include predominately hands-on activities that connect to chemical engineering concepts, like conservation of mass and surface tension, and ultimately to a chemical engineering job. These activities were designed to engage students’ curiosity and connection to what chemical engineers do in the real world. The first-year experience for our engineering program is for students to take a 3-credit course in the Fall called Introduction to Engineering, in addition to the common physics, math, and chemistry courses. The Introduction to Engineering course is broken into three modules, each consisting of 14 sessions. Each department offers 1-3 different sections of a departmental-themed module. Students select 3 different department modules for the semester. Students are advised to select majors that they have not considered, as well as areas that pique their interests. One of the main goals of the course is to showcase each major by demonstrating what students will learn and potential jobs after graduation. In this study, approximately 70 students took the intervention section of this course, which predominately consisted of hands-on activities and connections to real-world chemical engineering careers. The control section, which was predominately lecture-based, had approximately 90 students. Students in both sections were asked to take pre- and post-surveys that measured their curiosity. In addition, students in the intervention course participated in homework assignments that asked them to connect chemical engineering to the real world. Analysis of the students’ assignments will show to what level students were able to connect chemical engineering concepts to industry and job markets based on the new hands-on activity style of the course. We will also investigate if the different sections, gender, and established majors prior to the course influenced students’ curiosity and connectivity.

Citation
Format

Vernon, J., & Huang, Y. (2020, June), Work in Progress: An Evaluation of a First-year Chemical Engineering Module on Students’ Curiosity and Connectivity Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--35607

TY - CPAPER
AB - This project will focus on the Chemical Engineering module of Introduction to Engineering. In the Chemical &amp;amp; Biomolecular Engineering Dept., two sections of the course have been offered previously. The style of the course has been predominately lecture-based. In this project, the intervention course was redesigned to include predominately hands-on activities that connect to chemical engineering concepts, like conservation of mass and surface tension, and ultimately to a chemical engineering job. These activities were designed to engage students’ curiosity and connection to what chemical engineers do in the real world.
The first-year experience for our engineering program is for students to take a 3-credit course in the Fall called Introduction to Engineering, in addition to the common physics, math, and chemistry courses. The Introduction to Engineering course is broken into three modules, each consisting of 14 sessions. Each department offers 1-3 different sections of a departmental-themed module. Students select 3 different department modules for the semester. Students are advised to select majors that they have not considered, as well as areas that pique their interests. One of the main goals of the course is to showcase each major by demonstrating what students will learn and potential jobs after graduation.
In this study, approximately 70 students took the intervention section of this course, which predominately consisted of hands-on activities and connections to real-world chemical engineering careers. The control section, which was predominately lecture-based, had approximately 90 students. Students in both sections were asked to take pre- and post-surveys that measured their curiosity. In addition, students in the intervention course participated in homework assignments that asked them to connect chemical engineering to the real world. Analysis of the students’ assignments will show to what level students were able to connect chemical engineering concepts to industry and job markets based on the new hands-on activity style of the course. We will also investigate if the different sections, gender, and established majors prior to the course influenced students’ curiosity and connectivity.

AU - Julianne Vernon
AU - Yin Huang
CY - Virtual On line
DA - 2020/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Work in Progress: An Evaluation of a First-year Chemical Engineering Module on Students’ Curiosity and Connectivity
UR - https://peer.asee.org/35607
DO - 10.18260/1-2--35607
ER -