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COVID-19, Pandemics, Online Courses, Flipped Classroom, Capstone Experiences, Foreign Countries, Chemical Engineering, Undergraduate Students, Engineering Education, Design, Educational Technology, Technology Uses in Education, Integrated Learning Systems, Video Technology, Barriers, Program Implementation, Grades (Scholastic), Cooperation, Teamwork, and Israel

This reflective practice contribution presents the lessons learned from teaching plant design using an online flipped format to a small cohort of students in the first COVID-19 semester. These lessons were applied to the online teaching of the capstone design course to a full-sized cohort. The impact of the implemented recommendations on the students' academic outcomes is assessed, focusing on the importance of tracking student engagement in formative learning and encouraging the low-engagers to keep up.

Student Attitudes, COVID-19, Pandemics, School Closing, Online Courses, Distance Education, Educational Technology, Technology Uses in Education, Barriers, Chemical Engineering, Coping, Adjustment (to Environment), and Oregon

This qualitative study examines the student experience in a chemical engineering program at a large, public research-intensive university during the shift to remote teaching due to COVID-19. Data sources include a free response survey completed by 380 students and focus groups including 35 graduate and undergraduate student instructors. The most common challenge students identified was staying engaged in their studies, especially during class. Several instructional practices emerged that can transfer back to in-person instruction.

COVID-19, Pandemics, Academic Achievement, Student Motivation, Mental Health, Student Attitudes, Competence, Personal Autonomy, Grades (Scholastic), Gender Differences, Stress Variables, School Closing, Online Courses, Educational Technology, Technology Uses in Education, Chemical Engineering, Engineering Education, College Students, Student Characteristics, and Indiana

This study evaluates students' outcomes in an online materials and energy balances course during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using multiple linear regression, we found that students' "competence" and "autonomy" beliefs decreased across the semester, with a negative change in competence beliefs predicting higher grades for students, especially women. Also, we used path analysis to model the relationship between "psychological distress," motivation, and final grades. These results give insight into how to support students during difficult circumstances.

Entrepreneurship, Blended Learning, Chemical Engineering, COVID-19, Pandemics, Distance Education, Assignments, Teamwork, Independent Study, Engineering Education, Student Motivation, Student Projects, Laboratory Experiments, Videoconferencing, Student Attitudes, Undergraduate Students, Likert Scales, Wastes, Partnerships in Education, Vermont, and Ohio (Dayton)

Online and blended learning opportunities in Chemical Engineering curriculum emerged due to COVID-19. After eight weeks of in-person Unit Operations Laboratory sessions, a remote-learning open-ended final project was assigned to student teams. The assignment involved aspects related to entrepreneurially-minded learning (EML) and community-based learning (CBL). Results show correlations between self-directed learning and the EML framework. Continuous support and involvement of a community partner correlate to students' motivation, critical for successful remote-learning implementations in engineering education.

Undergraduate Students, College Science, Chemical Engineering, Majors (Students), Thermodynamics, Distance Education, Hands on Science, Laboratory Experiments, Video Technology, Technology Uses in Education, Science Achievement, Achievement Gains, Science Instruction, and Instructional Effectiveness

In 2019 and 2020, third-year chemical engineering majors completed a concept inventory at the beginning and end of the semester in their thermodynamics course. Midway through spring semester of 2020, the course switched to emergency remote instruction, replacing hands-on inquiry-based laboratory activities (IBLAs) with short videos. Analysis of learning gains on the concept inventory demonstrated that while both groups made significant gains in their learning, the 2019 cohort showed larger gains than the 2020 cohort.

Inquiry, Active Learning, Engineering Education, Computer Assisted Instruction, Chemical Engineering, Outcomes of Education, Teaching Methods, Undergraduate Students, Foreign Countries, Misconceptions, Cognitive Style, Visual Aids, Laboratory Experiments, and Qatar

A Computer-Aided Learning Package as Inquiry-Guided Learning (CALP/IGL) was implemented in a cooling tower experiment for 43 students enrolled in four sections of the Unit Operations Laboratory course in the chemical engineering program at Qatar University. The impact of this approach on the attainment of learning outcomes was evaluated. Results show that CALP/IGL helped improve the attainment level of course learning outcomes by [approximately]35%. The skills improved were mainly those aiming for the students' ability to interpret and discuss the experimental data. The criteria for improvement were mainly the students' ability to explain the chart trends according to the relevant theoretical principles, leading to addressing misconceptual mistakes. It also helped mitigate educational logical fallacies and reduce the academic gap among students of different learning styles and capabilities.

Heat, Engineering Education, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Scientific Concepts, Measurement, Laboratory Experiments, Figurative Language, and Teaching Methods

The analogy among momentum, heat and mass transport phenomena is an important concept in chemical engineering education. This paper presents the analogy between heat exchanger and packed column calculations. The effectiveness-NTU method used to calculate outlet temperatures of hot and cold streams in an exchanger is introduced in a packed column where outlet compositions of gas and liquid streams are to be determined. Examples are used to demonstrate the usefulness of the developed analogy.

Instructional Effectiveness, College Credits, Chemical Engineering, First Year Seminars, College Freshmen, and Outcome Measures

We report the short- and longer-term impacts of offering a 1-credit introductory seminar to first-year chemical engineering students. Students who completed the seminar demonstrated a better awareness of the major, career opportunities, and academic success strategies than students who did not enroll in the seminar. A longer-term comparison showed that even though students who opted to enroll in the seminar were less confident to start, by graduation there were no significant differences in retention or academic performance between students who did or did not take the seminar course. Therefore, we encourage departments to consider offering a chemical engineering first-year seminar.