Quality Improvement in Graduate Chemical Engineering Kinetics

Often graduate students in chemical engineering come from diverse B.S. degrees beyond just chemical engineering. These majors include the sciences (e.g., chemistry) and other engineering disciplines (e.g., mechanical, materials, environmental, and biomedical). Often the knowledge bases of these fields greatly differ. Chemists often lack the math preparation, whereas mechanical engineers lack the chemistry and materials engineers are not used to working with gases. This quality improvement project focuses on leveraging pathways to enhance student pre-requisite knowledge. Student-centered online activities were created and developed to improve student success and engagement in their STEM courses. In collaboration with Learning Designers from the Innovative Education’s Digital Learning team, the instructor developed online activities rooted in best practices and leveraged impactful instructional technologies. Using layered online content and integrated quizzes with feedback, the prerequisite knowledge (or need activities to refresh after being away from fundamental chemical engineering concepts). As a result, students’ performances were on par with those of previous years without devoting valuable class time on those prerequisite concepts; therefore, taking time away from the intended course content. Additional qualitative and quantitative comparisons will be presented, as well as plans to expand this needs assessment project into the next academic year.