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The flipped classroom instructional approach gained popularity after the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly disrupted language instruction. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a full online flipped classroom instructional model to enhance students' meeting skills and their engagement. The model consisted of two lessons: group meeting skills and writing the minutes of meetings. The participants comprised 48 third-year undergraduate engineering students from a public university in Thailand. The study utilized the KW#4 principle to compare average scores of passing students in formative and summative assessments, and to analyze pre-test and post-test scores, aiming to evaluate the model's impact on students' meeting skills. Student engagement (affective, behavioral, and cognitive) was examined using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The results showed that the model was effective, as the post-test scores were significantly higher than the pre-test scores. Further, the results from the KW#4 revealed that the model was effective since the effectiveness of criterion learning (formative and summative tests' average percentage) in using the flipped classroom to enhance group meetings and the minutes of the meetings of the students was 87.6/82.8 and 74.06/74.02, which was higher than that of the set standard criteria of 60/60. The students also demonstrated a high level of positive cognitive, behavioral, and affective engagement. The study provides a holistic perspective on the effectiveness and practicality of the model, thus yielding further support for technology-integrated language instruction in ESP courses.

Engineering is fundamentally about design, yet many undergraduate programs offer limited opportunities for students to learn to design. This design case reports on a grant-funded effort to revolutionize how chemical engineering is taught. Prior to this effort, our chemical engineering program was like many, offering core courses primarily taught through lectures and problem sets. While some faculty referenced examples, students had few opportunities to construct and apply what they were learning. Spearheaded by a team that included the department chair, a learning scientist, a teaching-intensive faculty member, and faculty heavily engaged with the undergraduate program, we developed and implemented design challenges in core chemical engineering courses. We began by co-designing with students and faculty, initially focusing on the first two chemical engineering courses students take. We then developed templates and strategies that supported other faculty-student teams to expand the approach into more courses. Across seven years of data collection and iterative refinements, we developed a framework that offers guidance as we continue to support new faculty in threading design challenges through core content-focused courses. We share insights from our process that supported us in navigating through challenging questions and concerns.

The implementation of educational programs that tackle specific contents and promote English skills is convenient, especially in areas where English skills are not properly developed at universities, such as Spain. Indeed, some subjects are currently presented in English for this purpose. CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), where students learn English as a part of specific subject goals of their degree, could be a suitable way to improve English skills while acquiring the corresponding competences. Moreover, online lessons are becoming important, especially during the COVID-19 outbreak, when it was an alternative for face-to-face teaching. The aim of this work was the implementation of an online CLIL course about biorefineries for chemistry, chemical engineering, and mechanical industrial engineering students. The course was a first approach presented as a specialization course that could be merged with related subjects in the future. The main objective of this session was the gradual introduction of English grammar and vocabulary (specific terms) and the promotion of students' participation on oral discussions. The results were successful, showing that the students got motivated and obtained good grades. As possible improvements, the introduction of terms should be less continuous, otherwise the students could lose track of the lesson.

This work describes an international collaboration experience carried out between our process design and petroleum property evaluation courses. This collaboration was developed as part of a partnership between the American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, and Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America, using a program called Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) from the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The COIL program provides training to faculty on engaging students in international and cross-disciplinary projects to promote skills needed in the current work force. The COIL training meetings facilitated pairing faculty of different disciplines in different parts of the world and provided a structure for developing a collaborative project. The collaborative project that we undertook in fall 2021, and which we detail throughout this article, was titled Upstream and Downstream of Petroleum Economics.

Research on student support in the global North indicates possible benefits of life coaching interventions in improving students' persistence and well-being. There is emerging research on life coaching interventions and their potential benefits in the South African higher education context, but empirical evidence is scarce. We report results from a longitudinal study that investigated a life coaching intervention to support students. The objective of the intervention was to harness students' agency proactively by equipping them with skills to improve their academic and non-academic lives. Data were gathered through one-on-one semi-structured interviews with ten students who had participated in the intervention. We used Archer's social realist concepts of structure and agency as our theoretical framework. The results indicate that the life coaching intervention enabled students to mediate academic and non-academic constraints. Concerning academic constraints, it helped students manage the transition from high school, including adjusting to a new workload, time management, learning to collaborate with their peers, and dealing with experiences of failure. Concerning non-academic constraints, the life coaching intervention helped students clarify their goals, increase their self-awareness, cope with negative emotions, and boosted their self-confidence and resilience.

A chemical engineering student's knowledge of theory, experimental design, and real-world processes is tested and enforced in the Unit Operations laboratory courses. However, instructors are facing challenges of delivering high-quality, hands-on laboratory content with limited resources and increasingly large class sizes. Limited in-lab time is often inefficiently allocated to individualized instruction, which broadly diminishes students' opportunity for learning by restricting the quantity of data they are able to collect. In addition, teaching in-person laboratories with social distancing measures during the pandemic posed significant logistical and safety challenges and required alternative techniques to be explored and adapted. The technological strategies implemented in this work aimed to manage laboratory course content more efficiently by enhancing familiarization, operation, and safety of lab equipment during and prior to class time. This work demonstrates the evolution of several technological tools that evaluated synchronous hybrid lab offerings and asynchronous prelab training using remote controlled cameras, web-interfaces, and augmented reality. The effectiveness of the implemented technologies was assessed via post course surveys and both negative and positive students' responses were discussed.

We explored chemical engineering students' approaches to learning, study-related burnout, and perceptions of peer and self-assessment in a challenging physical chemistry thermodynamics course. Cluster analysis revealed three learning profiles based on students' approaches to learning: students who scored high in both organised studying and the deep approach to learning, students who scored high in the unreflective approach to learning, and students who scored high in all three approaches. According to our findings, students who employed deep learning strategies and managed their time carefully experience the least study-related burnout. These students also felt more efficacious when participating in assessment and had fever negative experiences of both peer and self-assessment. Consequently, physical chemistry educators should adopt practices that facilitate a deeper approach to learning, including paying careful attention to course workload and utilising teaching methodologies that can foster the deep approach like peer and self-assessment.

Problem solving in chemical kinetics poses substantial challenges for university students since it often involves significant use of mathematics as a tool and language, with challenging translations and transitions between chemical phenomena and mathematical representations. In this paper, we present key findings from a study investigating chemistry students solving tasks centred around the steady-state approximation. Building upon the mathematical modelling cycle (MMC), qualitative analysis of the data collected using a think-aloud protocol led to the development of the extended MMC. This empirically derived extended MMC offers a more detailed account of the processes involved in mathematical modelling of chemical phenomena, highlighting aspects such as the occurrence of deliberation and evaluation throughout the modelling cycle, as well as the varying characteristics, points of activation and roles of extra-mathematical resources during problem solving. We further introduce and use problem-solving trajectories as a tool for visualising and analysing the complex and diverse approaches used by students in their attempts at reaching a solution. Overall, the extended MMC provides a finer-grained model of the cognitive and metacognitive activities that students engage in, offering further insights for research and practice.

During the SARS-2-COVID pandemic our institution sought to continue the teaching and learning of experimental laboratories by designing, assembling, and delivering a microscale chemistry kit to the students' homes. Thanks to this approach students were able to perform [approximately]25 experiments during each one of the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters in an elective Electrochemistry and Corrosion course offered to Chemical Engineering undergraduates. In addition to performing traditional experiments, students were encouraged to design some of their own and have the entire group reproduce them. One of such student-designed experiments involved the capture of CO[subscript 2] and its reduction with a readily available active metal (i.e., Al foil) in aqueous media to generate potentially useful products. The highly negative standard potential of Al is exploited for the reduction of lab-generated CO[subscript 2], and the products are chemically tested. Al as a foil has been reported to be electrochemically inactive for carbon dioxide reduction. However, encouraged by an earlier report of the reduction of CO[subscript 2] to CO, the Al surface is activated in the present experiment by removal of its natural oxide layer with a solution of CuCl[subscript 2] produced in an electrochemical cell. This procedure enables Al to react with CO[subscript 2] and yield useful chemistry. This experiment turned to be a discovery trip. The detailed procedure is discussed here, as well as the teaching methodology, grading scheme, and student outcomes.

The present short paper is an attempt in the direction of understanding the learning problems of undergraduate students. Sample of chemical engineering students was selected to perform a simple exam test. The test was divided into four steps. Closed book - individual student, Closed book - cooperative students, Open book - cooperative students, and Exam completion steps. Questionnaire was carried out to obtain the research results. It was found that a large percentage of the students are not studying carefully, the studying method was shallow and depend only on reading ready printed lectures. The results compared with previous exam results. Current test improved the performance of students. The novelty of present work represented by applying a new teaching method in colleges of engineering in Iraq. This short paper also proved that the methods of teaching not restricted to social and humanity studies.

A problem-based learning (PBL) methodology was implemented to a project, whose main objectives were to discuss and apply the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry to the study of poly(vinyl alcohol)'s cross-linking reaction with dicarboxylic acids. The five participating students were oriented to be responsible for their own learning and the professor participated as an advisor. The problem was proposed and students planned all their activities to accomplish the objectives and goals, reviewed recent information in scientific literature and summarized it, made experimental work, prepared written reports, and were evaluated in seminars. The results obtained by the students were assessed through the generation of a final report and also with a final oral presentation in front of faculty members. The experience lived by the collaborative workgroup during the development and execution of the project, is described. This research is an example of how the PBL methodology can motivate the active participation of students when solving problems. The next step is to introduce this tool to teachers and students of other undergraduate courses or laboratories, since it causes a difference in the way education is being perceived in our university, because it emphasizes the application and understanding of concepts over simple memorization.

Proper chemical process simulation knowledge is valuable for senior chemical engineering students to deliver optimal design outcomes and achieve many learning objectives. This study aims to highlight the benefits of continuous improvements and innovations in chemical engineering's undergraduate curriculum. In particular, curriculum restructuring benefits when the simulation course is offered earlier in the curriculum. Most importantly, it elaborates on how this change creates opportunities to help the program attain multiple learning objectives at higher levels. There is a direct modification to the upper-division undergraduate courses (for example, the senior design project course) to incorporate more important in-depth skills, such as optimization and sustainability. The students' summer training experience has also been enhanced to simulate and troubleshoot industrial case studies.

The rapid development of technology and information has influenced students' learning styles and has led to a shift in information seeking from printed books to e-books. This study aims to measure students' knowledge and skills, attitude, and website knowledge competency on the ionic liquid material. The study involved 47 students of the Diploma III Chemical Engineering program at a private polytechnic selected using a purposive sampling technique. This web-based Ionic Liquids learning was tested on students through the experiential learning model. Data collection was carried out by completing the competency test at the beginning (CT1) and the end of learning (CT2). The results revealed that website-based ionic liquid learning increased each competency of knowledge and skills of ionic liquids, knowledge of websites, and attitude. Even though not all students can do it independently, the learning could attract students' attention. The learning has to be combined with lecturers' explanations as reinforcing concepts. This research's implications are expected to be used as recommendations in enriching the Chemical Engineering education curriculum by adding website-based ionic liquid material.

In this paper, a comparative evaluation of the undergraduate program of Chemical Engineering curriculums of Chinese and Ethiopian universities was performed. The study employed systematic qualitative methods to synthesize the current qualitative researches into an explanatory process. To comprehend the Chemical Engineering curriculum structure in two countries, a survey of courses from each country institution is presented. Since both countries use harmonized chemical engineering curriculum with their respective institution, top university from each country was taken as a representative sample, Tsinghua University (THU) from China and Addis Ababa University (AAU) from Ethiopia. The major aspects in the comparison were the lengths of the programs, measurement of student workload, practical curriculum, and the ratio of general, core, compulsory and non-compulsory courses. At the THU, the minimum length for the undergraduate program is 4 years, whereas at AAU a minimum of 5 years is expected. While general education courses occupy 70% of the total credit in the THU curriculum showing more emphasis on general courses, the AAU curriculum gives more focus to core courses by allocating 70% of its total credit. The THU curriculum proves to be more flexible, offering more elective courses at different stages of the program; the AAU curriculum has provided the chance for a range of specialty streams offering elective courses in the final year of the program. Thus, it is highly appreciable for both countries' universities to optimistically add more courses to their present curriculum based on their socio-economic trait, cultural backgrounds, national demands, and resource availabilities.

Higher Education Institutions in South Africa continue to experience considerable dropout rates of students during the first year, especially those from previously marginalised population groups. The aim of this research was to evaluate how the use of life coaching interventions providing first year students with psychosocial support, influenced their first-year experience. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected through a questionnaire at the end of the academic year, approximately four months after the intervention, to evaluate students' experiences of the intervention. Results indicate that students felt that the intervention helped them avoid dropping out of university prematurely, respond better to failure during the year, and improve their self-awareness and academic performance. In conclusion, the results suggest that the use of life coaching intervention as a proactive means of harnessing student agency, may be beneficial to their academic performance, and in improving their lives in general. The study recommends that further research be conducted to explore the use of small group life coaching for providing students with psychosocial support, and also explore this intervention's cost-effectiveness in different contexts.

The study examines the impact of the AUN-QA assessment at the programme level on quality improvement from the students' perspective. Data was collected through a survey questionnaire distributed to 439 participating students in the third and final years of the three programmes from three universities that were assessed and recognised by AUN-QA in 2018 and 2019. The findings indicate very positive changes observed by students during the AUN-QA assessment process at the programme level. Most students observed changes in curriculum design and development, teaching methods, student assessment methods, equipment and facilities, and research while few students observed changes in academic staff, support staff, and student support services. These changes appeared to be attributed to the adaptation of the OBE approach by the universities in this study as well as the requirements of the AUN-QA for programme assessment. However, the study also shows a difference in the students' self-reported evaluation or observation of changes at the three universities. It is suggested that further studies should be conducted using more direct methods of measuring changes such as direct assessment of student learning for evaluating the impacts of external QA. Another research applying a qualitative approach (such as interview) could provide more in-depth information on the impacts of AUN-QA assessment from the students' perspectives.

The shift to remote teaching with the COVID-19 pandemic has made delivery of concept-based active learning more challenging, especially in large-enrollment engineering classes. I report here a modification in the Concept Warehouse to support delivery of concept questions. The new feature allows instructors to make students' reasoning visible to other students by showing selected written explanations to conceptually challenging multiple-choice questions. Data were collected for two large-enrollment engineering classes where examples are shown to illustrate how displaying written explanations can provide a resource for students to develop multi-variate reasoning skills.

Apart from the evident tragedy that the COVID-19 outbreak has meant regarding both personal and economic costs, the normal functioning of the academic year has been drastically altered at all educational levels. Regarding Spain, the state of alert implemented by the government from mid-March to June has affected traditional face-to-face sessions at universities, as they were forbidden and replaced by online lessons. The aim of this work was to explain our own experience during the COVID-19 outbreak in a chemical engineering laboratory at the University of Extremadura, concerning the university teaching and the final degree project follow-up, whose method of teaching was active and participatory, based on constructivism and focused on the student as the center of the learning process. Thus, the confinement affected both the teachers and students differently, depending on the degree of completion of their main tasks and their previous skills with computing and virtual tools, among other factors. The existence of an operating virtual campus and an online library has made the transition to total e-learning and telework easier for teachers and students.

Students' epistemological beliefs are beliefs centred on one's own learning and knowledge. Such beliefs play a major role in the way one approaches problem solving in physics. The intention of this study is to evaluate such beliefs amongst undergraduate physics students. An analytical tool developed by Hammer has been used as a criterion for measuring such beliefs whilst engaged in physics problem solving. A case study of seven students with varying academic abilities and genders were chosen for this study. Each of these students' epistemological beliefs were examined through a clinical interview when they were presented with three different problems to be solved. To achieve a more holistic characterisation of the students' epistemological beliefs, a second person independently, evaluated their beliefs as well. The results reveal that students have personal epistemological beliefs that are different from each other and with respect to each of the problems, they solved.

COVID-19 has brought with it a tremendous sea-change in higher education globally. It has brought an opportunity to reconsider the way in which assessment is approached. The context for this paper is a chemical engineering department in a research-intensive university located in central London. Open book exams are used minimally in the degree programmes with retention and knowledge being tested mostly through closed-book exams. The COVID-19 outbreak meant there was now a pressing need to reconsider how students could effectively be assessed under extraordinary circumstances. In the UK [United Kingdom], students were effectively nearing the end of the academic year when ordered into lockdown. Students departed for home, both nationally and overseas and there were only a few options to address assessment. The authors turned to an examination provision that comprised open-book examinations which were taken in fixed, timed sessions. This raised several issues related to: (1) the use of open book exams which many students had not experienced as part of their university assessment; (2) the implication of staggered assessments, accommodating different time zones, given that a large proportion of students are international; (3) using appropriate platforms to deliver and mark exams; and (4) providing pastoral care and support to students during their examination and study periods. This paper outlines the authors' approach to these issues and the impact they have on future assessment provision.

Disruptive technologies, emerging global markets, and uncertain workforce requirements are driving the need for skilled graduates. This research developed a framework for collaboration between stakeholders to ensure work-ready graduates and sustained economic growth. A mixed-methods, multiple case study research design was deployed to gather data from graduates, employers, staff, students, and professional body representatives across three disciplines. The Australian course experience questionnaire generated 476 graduate responses and 1,175 comments. The graduate employability surveys collected responses from 88 graduates, 51 employers and 34 teaching staff. SPSS and Excel functions were used for quantitative data analysis and NVivo for thematic analysis. A cross-case analysis of the three case studies revealed consistency in stakeholder perceptions of domains perceived as important for graduate employability with collaborative partnerships emerging as integral to actualizing the domains. Findings from this research challenge conventional university approaches to brokering and maintaining partnerships and suggests a holistic engagement framework for stakeholders.

The main goal of this paper is to briefly describe the educational quality assurance procedures of Jubail Industrial College and share its experience with other local and international institutions that are potentially interested in implementing similar quality assurance procedures in their various departments. This paper follows a document and descriptive method. Document analysis qualitative approach was opted. In essence, implementing quality assurance procedures within any educational institution ensures quality education and helps to maintain an organized structure. Internal quality assurance policies and practices guarantee that the quality of education in an academic institution is consistently monitored. This paper can be utilized by both academic planners and quality assurance personnel in academic institutions. The quality assurance procedures described in this paper are used to ensure the quality of education specific to the Jubail Industrial College; however, it can be applied in other academic institutions as well.

The purpose of this study was to develop e-learning activities that could facilitate the integration of sustainability concepts and practices in engineering and chemical education. Using an online learning management system (LMS), undergraduate students in an applied chemistry program at a public university in Zimbabwe participated in an online discussion on the role of chemical reaction engineering in achieving environmental sustainability goals. In the second activity, the students were instructed to prepare a design report for a cost-effective and innovative wastewater treatment plant for a rural hospital. The design report was evaluated through peer review online. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed on the two online activities to evaluate student engagement, quality of responses and the incorporation of sustainability into their learning. In the online discussion, 97 comments were made averaging 120 words per comment. Furthermore, the students averaged 3.88 comments, with the majority of comments exhibiting simple and complex argumentation, a deep reflection and widespread use of terms associated with sustainability such as recycling, pollution, waste and the environment. Furthermore, the evaluation of peer reviews revealed that participants demonstrated they could identify the strengths and shortcomings in the design reports. Therefore, this study demonstrated that e-learning, particularly peer review and online discussion, could help chemistry and engineering students appreciate the need for chemical and engineering activities that encourage sustainable development.

Saudi Arabian Petrochemical Company (SAPCO), a petrochemicals manufacturer, has decided to make some major internal changes to gain increased market share and continue its success. It has been easy going for some time now, and business has been very good, but in order to take that next step, SAPCO needs to attain the Responsible Care certification. Responsible Care is an environmental focus safety and health initiative focused on reducing negative impacts of all facets of hazardous material manufacturing. Environmental awareness has taken a front seat in the petrochemicals industry, and many of SAPCO's clients are looking to only do business with certified manufacturers. To get certified, SAPCO will need to convince some of its vendors to meet the certification requirements as well. Saudi National Transportation (SNT), a hazardous material transportation company who has a long standing business relationship with SAPCO, is apprehensive to meet the requirements for certification. Let's see what can be done.

Engineering product design requires both technical aptitude and an understanding of the nontechnical requirements in the marketplace, economic or otherwise. Engineering education has long focused on the technical side of product design, but there is increasing demand for market-aware engineers in industry. Market-awareness and customer-focus are also associated with entrepreneurship, which has been given increased focus in engineering education. A common tool for gauging customer interest in industry is the focus group. Herein we examine the effect of customer voice as presented in a focus group for influencing engineering product design generated by students as part of the virtual internship and epistemic game Nephrotex. We find that customer exposure is related to decreased product cost without a change in product quality. Therefore, we suggest that the injection of customer voice into the engineering curriculum is a valid method by which to improve engineering design pedagogy.

The Bachelor's Degree Final Project (BDFP) of our school aims to develop a real constructive project, enhance cooperative teamwork and increase productivity of students. We present a real case study, related with engineering and scientific innovation results obtained by BDFP, which has led to an innovative scientific study presented at the 7th European Meeting on Chemical Industry and Environment and published in EMChIE 2015 Conference Proceedings. The objectives of this paper are: (1) Describing the design and implementation of a BDFP of engineering that encompasses the development of the characteristic elements of engineering and constructive work and, at the same time, it is scientifically innovative; (2) Showing the methodology used for its development; (3) Presenting the results obtained; (4) Emphasizing the importance of teachers, teamwork of students and the use of real case studies in the conceptual development of a BDFP; (5) Enhancing the possibility that the BDFP of Engineering can solve real engineering problems and to be precursors of Innovation and Scientific Knowledge developers; and (6) Learning engineering and, at the same time, providing Science new knowledge and applications. [Paper presented at the International Conference on University Teaching and Innovation (CIDUI): Learning and Teaching Innovation Impacts (9th, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain, Jul 5-7 2016.)]

Today's 21st century students are regarded as "digital natives," who are influenced by digital environments for acquisition of information, communication and interaction. With the emergence of new technologies, educators are encouraged to find meaningful ways of incorporating these technologies into their classrooms. The practice currently in South African classrooms is still the traditional lecture method, which poses limitations on students' learning due to its frequent lack of interaction and communication between students and educators. As a result, there is a need for educators to adjust their teaching methods and create learning environments that stimulate dialogue and engagement in and outside the classroom. This paper presents results of an evaluation of the effectiveness of the use of Facebook social media as communicative media, Clicker technology as an interactive medium, and Wiley Plus web-based homework system as an adaptive medium for enhancing learning through interaction and dialogue activities in and outside the first year Physics classroom as described in Laurilland's framework. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of collecting data were used in this study. A student feedback questionnaire and focus group interviews were carried out to elicit students' opinions on the effectiveness of the use of these technologies in the first year introductory Engineering Physics course. Quantitative data on student performance was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data was analysed using inductive strategy. Results showed that the use of Clickers and Facebook facilitated interactions between students and their teacher, in and outside the classroom, which resulted in deep and meaningful collaborative learning of the subject content. This resulted in better student performance in the homework and assignments done on the Wiley Plus web-based homework system, which may have contributed to the good performance of the students in both mid-term Examination and Final integrated Summative Assessment (FISA).

Virtual Reality (VR) games and simulations are increasingly being used to provide highly interactive, engaging and contextual learning experiences for learners in otherwise risk-prone environments, such as those obtained in chemical engineering and industrial domains. Understanding the intention of users towards this technology for education and training purposes is thus of paramount importance for academics and practitioners. This study examines the perceptions of chemical engineering students and professionals towards the use of VR games for health and safety education and training, and discusses the practical implications of findings. The study found that students and professionals believe that IVR games are useful for learning. A comparison of the two groups revealed that professionals were more accepting of the technology compared to students. Students presented concerns with the use of the technology for classroom learning. The paper concludes by outlining the implications of the findings to higher education practice.

Scientific vision and scientific understanding in today's world are in the path of new glory. Chemical Engineering science is witnessing drastic and rapid changes. The metamorphosis of human civilization in this century is faced with vicious challenges. Progress of Chemical Engineering science, the vision of technology and the broad chemical engineering applications together will go a long way in the true emancipation of scientific publishing and scientific editing. The author as a Chemical Engineer deeply delves into the world of chemical engineering science and unfolds the vast and visionary domain of publishing and editing. The author with deep and cogent insight uncovers the various branches of chemical engineering subject, its vast and varied applications and the futuristic vision of publishing in Chemical Engineering Journals. Scientific writing in today's world is in the path of newer regeneration. Plagiarism issues are changing the face of global scientific writing. It is a burning as well as a vexing issue. The human scientific endeavour is in the state of a difficult crisis. The sole aim and objective of this treatise is to address the need of lucid and plagiarism-free scientific writing in India. The message of plagiarism free writing in India needs to be strong and far-reaching. In today's scientific perspective, the need for scientific writing, whether it is of Engineering or Medicine, is immense and also needs to be targeted to the common mass. Chemical engineering is also in the path of new regeneration and newer reenvisioning. The domain of chemical engineering is now diversifying into different areas of Bio-engineering, Biotechnology and Medicine. In a separate section, the author delineates the visionary scientific endeavours in scientific writing especially medical science writing. There is an immense need for Chemical Engineering writing as India moves into a new eon of scientific cognizance and greater scientific vision. Mankind's vision and scientific prowess will be emboldened as India moves into a new scientific era. The basic upshot of scientific writing with targets towards sustainable development needs to be re-envisioned. The author touches upon the wide world of interdisciplinary areas of chemical engineering particularly, biotechnology, bioengineering and rural development in India. These aim and objectives will open up newer future thoughts and newer future vision in the years to come.

This paper pursues to define the pillars for designing the specific (SC) and optional curricula (OC) of Unit Operations and Processes (UOP) Discipline in the Chemical Engineering Program. To achieve this objective a methodology was developed, which was characterized by the participation of every member in the educational process: professors, experts of industrial sector and students. The joint work made it possible to carry out a variety of tasks: the characterization of regional industries according to the academic requests of the UOP discipline, the identification of deficiencies in the basic curriculum (BC), the needs of industries in environmental matters and the students´ preferences in their optional professional formation. The result of this qualitative study expressed a high convergence of all the variables under study. The importance of arranging SC and OC was validated, among other important alternatives, towards environmental technologies. These subjects combine important contents in the academic order with significant contributions to solve imperative problems of the territory. The significance of taking into account the strategic matters associated with Biotechnology, Petroleum Technology, and Food Technologies, key subjects for indispensable development of our regional context, was also recognized.

Team projects can optimize educational resources in a laboratory, but also create the potential for social loafing. Allowing students to choose their own groups could increase their motivation to learn and improve academic performance. To test this hypothesis, final grades and feedback from students were compared for the same course in two different years, one with and one without fixed group arrangements. Seniors of the United States Military Academy at West Point were divided into groups of three or four to complete chemical engineering lab projects during the fall semesters of 2014 and 2015. In the first year, 21 cadets remained in instructor-assigned teams for the duration of the course. The next year, 23 cadets were initially assigned groups, but then allowed to choose their own teammates for the second half of the semester. There was no significant difference in graded performance between the two years, although cadet feedback was interesting. When cadets had the option of choosing groups, 65% of survey respondents strongly agreed that their peers had contributed to their learning, versus 40% when groups were not allowed to change. When asked if their motivation to learn or their critical thinking ability had increased, fewer respondents in the second year strongly agreed with either statement. While these results are not conclusive, a wider implementation of team-focused learning currently underway at West Point will offer a robust dataset and insights on how to get group work to work well in science and engineering education.

Students in an upper-division Environmental Chemistry course used peer review and response to reviewer comments to improve their writing skills. The process employed an anonymous and timed in-class Peer Review Format. In addition to editing peer papers, students were tasked to create a Response to Reviewer Comments document, which the authors used to mimic the peer-review process required for scientific publication. The Response to Reviewer Comments document was designed to have students think critically about their writing and defend their choices with respect to peer edits. Results of essay quality and student surveys are presented here. Student writing assignments improved with this process; however, more support is needed to encourage students to critically think about their own writing.

In an introductory chemical engineering course, the conceptual framework of a holistic problem-solving methodology in conjunction with a problem-based learning approach has been shown to create a learning environment that nurtures deep learning rather than surface learning. Based on exam scores, student grades are either the same or better than the course taught using a lecture-based format. Based on pre- and post-course scores for an in-house concept inventory, average learning gains were within one standard deviation of the average gain reported by Hake for interactive engagement. After nine months, chemical engineering majors essentially retain their knowledge of the concepts. By successfully integrating the major cooperative learning elements discussed in this article, undergraduate engineers will be able to enhance their long-term retention of the fundamental principles for a particular engineering discipline and potentially transfer that knowledge to solve future problems.

This paper reports on a study carried out at a University of Technology, South Africa, aimed at identifying the existence of the mathematical knowledge gap and evaluating the intervention designed to bridge the knowledge gap amongst students studying first year mathematics at the Chemical Engineering Extended Curriculum Program (ECP). In this study, a pre-test was used as a diagnostic test to test incoming Chemical Engineering students, with the aim of identifying the mathematical knowledge gap, and to provide students with support in their starting level of mathematical knowledge and skills. After the diagnostic test, an intervention called the autumn school was organized to provide support to bridge the mathematical knowledge gap identified. A closed Facebook group served as a platform for providing student support after school hours. After the autumn school, a post-test was administered to measure whether there was an improvement in the knowledge gap. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of collecting data were used in this study. A pre-test was used to identify the mathematical knowledge gap, while a post-test was employed to measure whether there was a decrease in the knowledge gap after the intervention. Focus group interviews were carried out with the students to elicit their opinions on whether the intervention was of any help for them. Students' participation on Facebook in terms of student post, post comments and likes and an evaluation of students' academic performance in comparison to their Facebook individual participation was also conducted. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data was analysed using inductive strategy. Results showed that all the students in this study had the mathematical knowledge gap as no student in the class scored 50% on the overall pre-test. Findings further revealed that the intervention played a major role in alleviating the mathematical knowledge gap from some of the students (with 1/3 of the students scoring 50% and above in the post-test) and no positive correlation between students' academic performance on the post-test and students' participation in the Facebook group was noted. We hope that insights generated in this study will be of help to other institutions looking into designing interventions for bridging the knowledge gap. Reasons for lack of improvement in the knowledge gap of 2/3 of the students in this class will be highlighted.

To fulfill the European Higher Education context in the subject of the Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Degree of University of Barcelona named "Chemical Engineering Experimentation II" team work, written and oral communication generic skills were developed and assessed by means of rubrics. In order to appraise the methodological usefulness of rubrics to formative/summative assessment, rubrics validation was done by students. Rubrics were employed for several learning/assessment activities and the students' perception about the teaching/learning process was collected, analysed and compared to the academic marks. The lack of students' knowledge of the use of rubrics, their lack of commitment and proactivity in the teaching/learning process, and their lack of adaptability and high resistance to the introduction of methodological changes make further work necessary on implementation. Because of the importance of the active participation of the students in the process of teaching/learning, the process of validation should be continued. The teaching experience indicates that rubrics are useful as an assessment tool, but in order to increase their utility as a tool in the process of learning, the future challenge is to modify some aspects of the validation queries and process.

The Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria Química has a long tradition in the deployment of social competencies in engineering curricula through Integrated Projects (IP) carried out in structured teams. Social competencies are taught and practiced during the development of the IPs. We conceptually introduce a methodology for a 360 degrees assessment of the students' social competencies, as a tool to foster the improvement of their competency levels. In this article we analyze the results of the pilot test where the aforementioned methodology has been implemented in the Bachelor studies of Chemical Engineering. The results indicate that it is possible to objectively obtain the student's competency level discriminating among different social competencies, as well as among different students in the same team. The application of this tool fosters the development of specific educative actions to help the students with low competency profile, to reach acceptable levels for a successful insertion in the labor market.

This paper describes the "AIChE Concept Warehouse," a recently developed web-based instructional tool that enables faculty within the discipline of chemical engineering to better provide their students concept-based instruction. It currently houses over 2,000 concept questions and 10 concept inventories pertinent to courses throughout the core chemical engineering curriculum. These questions are available for faculty use both as in-class concept-based clicker questions (or ConcepTests) and stand-alone concept inventories, and can be accessed in various formats (online or offline) for use in class and on assignments and exams. The design philosophy is to make the tool versatile so that it can be used in the way that best fits with the instructor's teaching philosophy and the program's educational environment. Instructors and students perceive it to catalyze engagement and promote learning. While domain specificity is critical to the targeted development of tools like the one we describe, we argue that the computer-based approach is generic and could be applied to any engineering discipline. One objective in describing this tool and characterizing our experiences using it is to contribute to such wider adaptation.

Textbook style problems including detailed solutions introducing pharmaceutical topics at the level of an introductory chemical engineering course have been created. The problems illustrate and teach subjects which students would learn if they were to pursue a career in pharmaceutical engineering, including the unique terminology of the field, common unit operations, calculations pertaining to drug manufacturing, and some of the specific concerns of the industry such as regulations and testing. Over seventy problems have been created; selected problems have been administered to students and their impact evaluated. Students demonstrated significant gains in knowledge of pharmaceutical engineering topics.

Increasing knowledge integration has gained wide-spread support as an important goal in engineering education. The Chemical Engineering Pillars curriculum at the University of Pittsburgh, unique for its use of block scheduling, is one of the first four-year, integrated curricula in engineering, and is specifically designed to facilitate knowledge integration. As this curriculum is one of the first of its kind, conventional assessment strategies are not necessarily well suited for evaluation. In fact, our assessment strategy--by necessity--includes two separate measurement goals. First, we focus on measuring the effectiveness of the new curricular structure for enhancing the ability of students to engage in systems thinking (knowledge integration). At the same time, we specifically assess the impact of this type of curriculum on students' performance in conceptualizing (chemical) engineering principles. The goal of this paper is to outline an overall assessment structure suitable for measuring the efficacy of multi-year integrated curricula. Specifically, we describe the currently available assessment vehicles under use as well as discuss the methods -- and results -- for building the additional assessment materials required for a thorough vetting of this type of (chemical engineering) curriculum. While our specific assessment is still ongoing, we include a portion of the results to date and discuss their implications for the portability of integrated curricula in chemical engineering.

We have developed an instructional video that uses role-play to illustrate the differences between acceptable behavior and cheating on assignments. Since we began showing it in an introductory chemical engineering course, the average number of confirmed instances of cheating decreased slightly, but the average percentage of students who were caught cheating and appealed our accusation to the campus Judicial Board dropped from 24% pre-video to 1% post-video. We conclude that the video makes students aware of what constitutes cheating in our course, may reduce the incidence of cheating, and increases the likelihood that students who are caught cheating will admit their fault and accept the penalty.

The new reorganization of university education has involved relevant changes in teaching and learning methodologies in order to help students to learn more effectively and to develop important skills and competences demanded by the professional world. In this sense the new configuration of the degree in Chemical Engineering required the identification of the main general and transferable skills, the implementation of the new teaching and learning strategies necessary to achieve them and, in addition, an evaluation procedure for determining the importance and the degree of development of a student's skills and competences. In this exercise, two obligatory chemical reactor engineering subjects of the still-in-effect Chemical Engineering degree were chosen as examples of competence-based learning disciplines. For each one, a significant group of transferable and specific skills were selected to be developed. The identification and selection of skills was made according to the recommendations of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) together with the established requirements in the ministerial order for the new Chemical Engineering Degree (Ministerial order CIN/351/2009). In order to check the effectiveness of teaching strategies in helping students to acquire these abilities, specific questionnaires were designed. These tests allowed for the utility of the competences in question to be evaluated in terms of the students' professional work as future chemical engineering graduates and also facilitated the perception of skill development acquired through the methodology implemented in these subjects. The results of the skill evaluation questionnaires revealed the importance that both university collectives (students and professors) give to the development of transferable skills. These skills included the ability to communicate effectively (including in English), to work in multidisciplinary teams and learn on one's own accord, and to be aware of the need for life-long learning. Furthermore, students and teachers agreed that there is a direct correlation between the higher development of specific skills and the chemical engineering learning outcomes. In this sense, an important effort should be devoted to the development of a students' transferable skills by way of modifying the current teaching-learning system (partial substitution of lectures with tutorials and seminars, strategies based on problem-solving, projects and case studies (individual or student team-work), use of internet and electronic tools, etc.).

Observation on best future choices is not something that happens by chance; in fact, it should be carried out through careful planning driven by research. Therefore, observation on future curriculum would also involve in-depth research on future possibilities and their impact. Policy makers and curriculum developers of institutions or even the country should plan ahead not only for 50 years to come but beyond that. Research on the future would provide essential data in shaping the present generation as well as the future generation. Research oriented from future curriculum should be developed based on research findings on the future, including research on trends, events and their respective impact on the targeted learners. Therefore, the researchers will also discuss the aims, definition, basics and importance of future curriculum. The paper also includes discussion about future curriculum for engineering education. (Contains 1 figure.)

Misconceptions of chemistry and chemical engineering university students concerning instrumental analysis have been established from coordinated tests, tutorial interviews and laboratory lessons. Misconceptions can be divided into: (1) formal, involving specific concepts and formulations within the general frame of chemistry; (2) operational/topical, dealing with specific capabilities, problems and operations in chemistry; (3) methodological, associated to peculiar methods of analytical chemistry and data treatment; and (4) social, regarding the relation of analytical data with the social frame. Such misconceptions define a non-structured view of analytical methods, procedures and protocols related with analytical instrumentation. Instruments are frequently viewed as an autonomous, error-free black box providing non-structured data with no need of calibration or control, whereas weak relationships are established between data and aims along the analytical process. (Contains 7 tables and 8 figures.) [Financial support for this paper was provided by the University of Valencia research project "Desarrollo de herramientas para el diagnostico y evaluacion de errores conceptuales y metodologicos en la ensenanza de la Quimica instrumental."]

Understanding the distinctions among heat, energy and temperature can be difficult for students at all levels of instruction, including those in engineering. Misconceptions about heat transfer have been found to persist, even after students successfully complete relevant coursework. New instructional methods are needed to address these misconceptions. This pilot study examined whether researcher-developed and inquiry-based activities could increase conceptual understanding of heat transfer and alter common misconceptions. Twenty-two undergraduate chemical engineering students were assessed before and after instruction with inquiry-based activities using a ten-item concept inventory. Concept inventory questions were developed to assess students' performance on questions closely related to the inquiry-based activities and questions applying concepts in new contexts. Participants significantly improved their overall scores from pre-test to post-test. An examination of performance on individual items revealed significant improvement on half of those questions closely related to the instructional activities and half of those applying concepts in new but related contexts. Results are examined in light of the assessment and inquiry activities that were used, as well as the difficulty of the concepts. Educational implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. Descriptions of inquiry-based learning activities are appended. (Contains 3 tables.)

This paper describes the results of a pedagogical experience carried out at the University of Comahue, Argentina, with an interactive text (IT) concerning Homogeneous Chemical Reactors Analysis. The IT was built on the frame of the "Mathematica" software with the aim of providing students with a robust computational tool. Students' performance was analyzed on the basis of parameters established by educational criteria. The use of IT can be strongly recommended in undergraduate chemical engineering courses.

Peer-Assisted Tutorials (PATs), a form of Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL), were introduced to a conventional 4-year honours degree programme in Chemical Engineering. PATs were designed to support students in becoming more self-directed in their learning, to develop student confidence in tackling Chemical Engineering problems and to promote effective group work. They were implemented as part of a core undergraduate module (Unit Operations). For each PAT, 3rd Year students (Tutees) worked together in groups of 5-6, led by a trained Peer Tutor, a 4th Year student who had previously taken and passed the Unit Operations modules. PATs were well-structured, with each session involving two parts: (i) review of a previously assigned homework problem and (ii) introduction and group discussion of a new homework problem. PATs were evaluated on the basis of feedback from both Tutees and Tutors. PATs attracted high participation rates and yielded high levels of Tutee and Tutor satisfaction, in terms of student perceptions of their understanding of relevant material and enhancement of professionally relevant transferable skills. Although developed for Chemical Engineering, PATs are an effective teaching and learning tool, which could be adapted for any cognate discipline.

Simulation is a powerful tool in developing and troubleshooting manufacturing processes, particularly when considering process flows for manufacturing systems that do not yet exist. Simulation can bridge the gap in terms of setting up full-scale manufacturing for nanotechnology products if limited production experience is an issue. An effective use of simulation software is identified when analyzing a typical manufacturing process flow for anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanopore arrays. Simulation models, using the ProModel simulation software, were developed based on production flows, projected process times, and equipment. An attempt was made to realistically estimate process times and capacities, however model outputs, in terms of quantitative values, were found less important than the activities involved in setting up the models. The ability of simulation to help link theory and practice in the classroom may be useful in leading students toward higher levels of intellectual behavior as educators strive to build students' abilities to apply, analyze, evaluate, and create, rather than simply to remember and understand. (Contains 3 figures.)