Shifting disciplinary perspectives and perceptions of chemical engineering work in the 21st century

Wolff, Karin; Dorfling, C.; Akdogan, G.

doi:10.1016/j.ece.2018.06.005

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Another study with final-year students sought to introduce students to a range of contextual examples of core principles and procedures as applied in various mining and metallurgy industries [21]. The same authors went on to examine the third and fourth-year curriculum using the epistemic plane ( Figure 2) and found the majority of courses foreground purist and doctrinal insights [29]. Here, we have amended their figure to include a plotting of fluid mechanics in comparison to other, later-year courses.…”

Section: Research Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of course, the answer is more complex than this, since students can successfully complete all required tasks and pass the course with comparatively little long-term learning having taken place (as evidenced in later years where students are unable to make reasonable judgments about pump and piping networks, for instance, in their final-year design module). However, it appears that through a more intentional pursuit of epistemic touring through course structure, student knowledge retention, interest, and focus is improved [19,28,29].…”

Section: Assignmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Modified from[29], plot of course content and approach on the epistemic plane for several third and fourth year chemical engineering courses, as well as second-year fluid mechanics. Reproduced with permission[29].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Legitimation Code Theory to Conceptualize Learning Opportunities in Fluid Mechanics

Pott

Wolff

2019

Fluids

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With widespread industry feedback on engineering graduates’ lack of technical skills and research demonstrating that higher education does not effectively facilitate the development of open-ended problem-solving competencies, many educators are attempting to implement measures that address these concerns. In order to properly formulate sensible interventions that result in meaningful improvements in student outcomes, useful educational measurement and analysis approaches are needed. Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) has rapidly emerged as an effective, theoretically informed ‘toolkit’ offering a suite of dimensions through which to observe, analyze, interpret, and design teaching and learning practices. LCT Semantics has been used to help engineering educators unpack both levels of engineering knowledge abstraction and the complexity of engineering terms, while LCT Specialization focuses on knowledge practices (using the epistemic plane) and enables a visualization and differentiation between kinds of phenomena and the fixed versus open-ended methods with which to approach a particular phenomenon. Drawing on a range of initiatives to enable an improved practical grasp of fluid mechanics concepts, this paper presents a description and graphic LCT analysis of student learning that has been designed to anchor the ‘purist’ principles underpinning applied fluid mechanics concepts (such as in piping and pump network design) by way of concerted ‘doctrinal’ practices, and the exposure to more open-ended practical situations involving peer learning/group work, allowing educators to visualize the code clash between the curriculum and the world of work.

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Section: Research Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Assignmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Legitimation Code Theory to Conceptualize Learning Opportunities in Fluid Mechanics

Pott

Wolff

2019

Fluids

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“…Many employers also request that training is provided in professional skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving and decision making, pro‐activity and leadership, conflict management, diversity and inclusion, and life‐long learning. [ 1,2 ] Engineering departments globally, over the past few decades, have introduced greater focus on team work and other professional non‐technical skills within components of their curricula to provide a more well‐rounded and ready‐to‐work employee that is highly compatible with the needs of industry and other employers. However, one key approach of most engineering training programs is that we often teach fixed methods, subject matter, and approaches as established in textbooks and other resources, and there is a reinforcement of this material through their means of assessment (e.g., quizzes, exams, labs, and projects).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Instilling innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering graduate students: Observations at the University of Calgary

et al. 2021

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Today's employers not only want graduates who are critical thinkers and problem solvers that are able to work in teams, but also individuals that understand innovation and how to use entrepreneurial activities to move innovations to become benefits to society. For research-based graduate students, this is even more desired, with emphasis on an understanding of innovation processes and the realization of the role that innovation plays for the survival and growth of existing corporations as well as the key contribution it makes in start-up companies. Many engineering programs focus on traditional engineering attributes, and although these are essential elements that engineering graduates should learn through their training, little attention is paid to innovation and the conversion of innovations to realized impacts. Here, we review innovation and discuss our experience with trainees (graduate students and post-doctoral scholars) and how to engage them in innovation activities. Our observation is that innovation is coachable and can be cultivated in research-based trainees. We recommend nine actions (understanding the challenge, motivation, safe and mentored local environment, tolerance to failure, diversity, rewarding of passion, awareness of the external, internal-external environment, and creative destruction and preservation) that trainees should be exposed to in order to promote innovation and entrepreneurial activities so that they can establish and/or strengthen their innovation and entrepreneurship muscles, which hopefully continues after they leave university.

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“…At the same time different authors (Chen et al, 2016;Koretsky et al, 2008;Molderez and Fonseca, 2018;Naukkarinen and Sainio, 2018;Wolff et al, 2018) have documented the importance of solving real-life problems and using virtual environments to support the application of the theory learned in the classroom to professional challenges. Such real-life problems improve the ability to solve fully open-ended problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A virtual laboratory to support chemical reaction engineering courses using real-life problems and industrial software

Ramírez

Soto

López

et al. 2020

Education for Chemical Engineers

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A virtual laboratory has been developed to support chemical reaction engineering courses. Real-life engineering challenges that are difficult to address in a university laboratory give the opportunity to illustrate basic concepts of chemical reaction engineering such as the relationship between temperature and reaction rate, space time and conversion, and inert concentration and selectivity. Six virtual experiments covering topics from petroleum refining, diesel combustion, nanoparticle growth, and hydrogen combustion form the basis of the virtual laboratory. The characteristics embedded in the experiments include the use of economic analysis to give closure to open-ended

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Shifting disciplinary perspectives and perceptions of chemical engineering work in the 21st century

Cited by 17 publications

References 14 publications

Using Legitimation Code Theory to Conceptualize Learning Opportunities in Fluid Mechanics

Using Legitimation Code Theory to Conceptualize Learning Opportunities in Fluid Mechanics

Instilling innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering graduate students: Observations at the University of Calgary

A virtual laboratory to support chemical reaction engineering courses using real-life problems and industrial software

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