From Lab Scale to Mass Production: A Project-Based Learning on the Preparation of (S)-Epichlorohydrin for Enhancing College Student Engineering Practical Abilities

Abstract

Project-based learning (PJBL) is student-centered and teamwork educational activity that prepares students for the challenge of real-world problems. This kind of instructional method is highly recommended by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). This paper describes an authentic project that focuses on the preparation of (S)-epichlorohydrin from laboratory (lab) scale to mass production, which provides a situation for students to explore lab work as well as real industrial practice. During the different learning activities, clear learning objectives and guiding questions would be explicitly given to students to help them apply their knowledge and skills to the engineering project and complete the tasks within a given time. Upon the completion of the project, their written reports and team oral reports are used to evaluate their learning gains. The assessment results showed that most of the students attained good scores, and all teams reached outstanding level. Their engineering practical abilities including practical operation, problem-solving, systematic thinking, teamwork, and communication were significantly improved. This paper discusses how to cultivate engineering science talents at the college's comprehensive practicing course.

Implementasi Pembelajaran Berasaskan Projek (PBP): Manfaat dan Cabaran kepada Pelajar dan Guru

“…Dari aspek pelajar, manfaat PBP yang pertama dapat dilihat dalam memberikan kesan yang baik terhadap peningkatan motivasi pelajar (Agudelo & Vasco, 2019;Aldabbus, 2018;Yang et al, 2021). Pelajar berasa lebih bersemangat dan berkeinginan untuk menyelesaikan tugasan diberi bagi mencapai objektif ditetapkan (Nor Khayati et al, 2020).…”

“…Pelajar berasa lebih bersemangat dan berkeinginan untuk menyelesaikan tugasan diberi bagi mencapai objektif ditetapkan (Nor Khayati et al, 2020). Kedua, ia turut meningkatkan pencapaian akademik pelajar (Almulla, 2020;Yang et al, 2021). Pelajar lebih memahami kandungan pembelajaran kerana terlibat sepenuhnya dalam menyelesaikan tugasan dan mempunyai pengalaman dengan mengambil tindakan secara terus dan melakukan aktiviti "hands-on" dalam proses tersebut.…”

“…Justeru, pelajar dapat membina kefahaman sendiri dan menimbulkan kesukaan kepada pembelajaran (Nor Khayati et al, 2020). Ketiga, penggunaan PBP juga membantu meningkatkan penerimaan pembelajaran (Yang et al, 2021) kerana ia menyediakan pelajar kesedaran terhadap bahan pembelajaran dan penglibatan rakan sebaya (Almulla, 2020). Tahap penglibatan pelajar turut meningkat dan pelajar juga bekerjasama dalam menyelesaikan tugasan diberi (Agudelo & Vasco, 2019;Aldabbus, 2018;de la Torre-Neches et al, 2020).…”

“…Pertama, faktor pengalaman guru. Kurangnya pelaksanaan PBP dalam pembelajaran adalah kerana guru tidak berpengalaman dalam mengendalikannya (Yang et al, 2021). Selain itu, perbezaan latihan perguruan berbeza juga menyumbang kepada faktor ini (Saleha, 2019).…”

An Investigation on the Application of a Competency Assessment System in a Blended Learning Course “Organic Chemistry Laboratory”

“…Given that the end-of-semester examination component significantly contributes to the overall grade, any deviation from the established standards can exert a substantial effect on the overall evaluation results. Meanwhile, the traditional evaluation ignores the examination of students’ noncognitive fields, such as their experimental attitude and inquiry ability, while concurrently emphasizing one or more specific experimental skills when evaluating students’ experimental operation skills. − The tendency to emphasize operation over ability and result over process is generally reflected in this evaluation mode. Additionally, this conventional evaluation mode views the instructor as the only subject of evaluation while viewing the student as the object of evaluation.…”