Work In Progress: Pillars of Chemical Engineering

Here, we discuss the development as well as the early assessment and implementation of a novel integrated curriculum in chemical engineering. This curriculum, based on block scheduling, consists of 6 main or "pillar" courses, augmented by a number of concurrent laboratory classes. The goal of this new curriculum is to foster integrated thinking beginning as early as the sophomore year, while at the same time enabling instructors to have the flexibility to utilize modern pedagogical tools. At present, the curriculum is in its pilot phase with 4 of 6 courses ongoing and corresponding assessment results being available for a subset of these. By using a world-class suite of assessment techniques including concept maps, concept inventories, and surveys, we hope to produce a truly validated success story that can serve as a model that is applicable for all engineering disciplines