This project is developing a new unit operations laboratory with an emphasis on bioenergy for use in the undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum at the University of Washington. This is being accomplished by developing laboratory facilities and experimental modules based on the complete cycle of bio-butanol production. The laboratory modules being developed address topics in fermentation, separation for water recycling, solvent purification, control of emissions, and heat exchange. The laboratory is also the central focus of a new course in bio-fuel production. The laboratory and the course are utilizing modern pedagogies including team based learning and project based learning. The project includes rigorous formative and summative evaluation plans with both qualitative and quantitative components coordinated by an experienced independent evaluator. The evaluation plan includes a comparison between a traditional chemical engineering course taught at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez (UPRM) and the new course at the University of Washington on student learning. The results of this study are informing how the laboratory can be best integrated into the curriculum at UPRM and be used with students from underrepresented groups. The projects results are being disseminated through conferences and journal publications and the NSF sponsored National STEM Distributed Learning education resource database.
Chemical Engineering curricula include at least one or two laboratory courses where students develop hands-on skills by working on experimental stations that are related to processes used in traditional chemical industries. A typical lab format is one in which various independent stations are usually used to cover a wide range of important Chemical Engineering concepts such as heat exchange, distillation and chemical reactions. Typically, these individual units are conceptually independent from each other because the courses develop gradually over very long periods of time. This creates laboratory courses that can be technically meaningful for the students but which cannot provide students with a realistic experience of industrial processes that are integrated and interrelated. Before this project was initiated, the laboratories at the Chemical Engineering program of the University of Washington fell into this category. A significant limitation of this classic structure is that students cannot easily recognize that, in real industrial processes, units are interconnected and their operation is intimately linked with other units. Thus, we hypothesized that an integrated laboratory experience would be more realistic, interesting and relevant to industrial practice. Our main objective was to shift focus from individual units and short-term tasks to a comprehensive view of the whole plant where the collective goal of the entire class is to make a mock company more profitable. This drastic modification of the course structure required the complete revision of 1) all laboratory experiments, 2) the pedagogical model and 3) the course structure. Furthermore, this required a significant capital investment of resources for new equipment. It was important to provide students with experiences covering fundamental concepts of the traditional Chemical Engineering curriculum (e.g. mass transport and heat exchange) while also including new experiments dealing with contemporary technical concepts for the energy and biotech industries. Pre and post-course surveys were prepared and administered by an independent assessment consultant to quantitatively evaluate changes in student perception of their learning. Survey results suggested that the principal educational objectives were successfully met but also raised awareness of unexpected issues related to the new course structure. For example, student comments reflected strong satisfaction with the new learning material and with the general structure, but also expressed frustration at the significantly larger workload of the new laboratory when compared to other courses. The new laboratory structure has now been formally institutionalized by the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington and continues to be supported. The results of this experience have also been presented at several national conferences focusing on general engineering education research and on Chemical Engineering instruction. The use of an integrated laboratory instruction model provides students with a more realistic experience of real-world Chemical Engineering practice and helps them develop critical skills that are essential to achieving success in their future careers.
