Engineering Education in Chemical Engineering

Our engineering education research tries to understand how engineering students learn and develop the capabilities required in the professional practice of engineering. We focus on 4 main areas:

1. Project-based learning, design thinking education, and the creation of effective practical laboratory experiences.

This area focuses on the development and implementation of learning environments where students can improve their professional skills and practice self-directed learning. We have promoted these skills by the incorporation of problem-based learning, project-based learning, and the creation of effective experimental experiences.

2. Effective Teamwork Training and the Development of Teaming Skills.

We apply the principles of teaming education to the practice of engineering in laboratory environments. Laboratory environments require effective technical communications and a high degree of collaboration which makes them ideal spaces for the development of teaming skills and the practice of teamwork. Our goal is to effectively prepare engineering students for changing work environments that center around collaborative activities.

3. Professional Development to Close the Gap Between Classroom Learning and Industry Practice.

We study the creation of learning environments and external collaborations that allow us to be more effective at recognizing and closing gaps in student knowledge as they move to the engineering practice. We are interested in understanding how learning occurs in experiential learning spaces such as laboratories. Laboratories can be effectively used to implement evidence-based practices that target these skills. We actively work with our industry partners to try to understand their needs and expectations and to integrate all stakeholders to the educational process.

4. The Creation of Innovative Approaches to Engineering Pedagogy.

Our main goal is the development of innovations in pedagogy. We aim to advance research by creating educational practices that help shape the future of engineering education, change how we teach our students, and continuously update how we approach engineering teaching.

Other Research Interests.

We also specialize in Process Safety education and the creation of custom made flexible experimental laboratory experiences to promote the practice of technical skills in chemical engineering students.