Chemical Engineering curriculum renewal for the twenty first century: a work in progress Peter Holt, Jose Romagnoli and Ali Abbas

Background  Internationally –Traditional + emerging areas for Chemical Engineers E.g. nano technology, life sciences, sustainability –Information age (internet+communications+travel) information readily and easily available rapid information exchange  Locally –Geographical - Sydney & Asia –University moving towards 6 credit point subjects (4 subjects per semester) –Improve horizontal and vertical integration 1

Curriculum renewal: we are…  Starting with a “clean slate”  Working in a team and communicating with staff  Bringing educational theory within the context of chemical engineering  Re-evaluated the status quo & questioning: –What attributes do a future engineer require? –What concepts and content should our graduates possess? –What does that mean for curriculum at the University of Sydney? 2

The big picture Key concepts and fundamentals (chemical engineering science and fundamentals Team Projects Generic and transferable skills development Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Progression through degree Breadth and depth Electives Or Combined degrees 3

Attributes  Critical thinking –Problem solving, reflection and evaluation, integration, generalisation  Professionalism –Team work, management, ethics, responsibility  Communication –Written, oral, listening, computer  Personal –Creativity, self learning, motivation  For example, Communication - Oral presentation  Required by IChemE, IEAust, University of Sydney Year 1Be able to present ideas to peers. Year 2Be able to gather ideas from others and analyse the outcomes. Year 3Adapt oral communication (tone, language, manner) to your audience. Year 4Actively engage other people (using a variety of mechanisms) to seek their opinions. Be able to evaluate their ideas and select relevant information for your situation. Actively engaged in a debate being able to justify your position and recognise your limitation. 4

Chem Eng - key concepts  Conservation laws –Mass, energy, momentum  Equilibrium  Rate processes  Sustainability  Systems approach Multi-scaled applications How do these concepts relate to a curriculum? 5

The curriculum map  Organize concepts, core knowledge, enabling tools 6 FUNDAMENTAL ENABLING TECHNOLOGY PROJECT

Semester projects  Academic team responsible for project –Links with semester content –Attribute development  Vertical and horizontal integration  Close connection to application –Real life problems (ill defined and ambiguous) –Opportunities for research led teaching –Hands on  Evolution of projects and their complexities throughout program 7

How does it fit together? Curriculum Attributes Key concepts Professional requirements Education research Institutional requirements Staff, student, industry response and feedback Context (application) Teaching and learning experience (staff & students) 8

So what and where to next?  Conclusions –Key attributes and concepts identified –Awareness, interest and involvement from many staff  Where to next? –Contextualise concepts – the context –Integration of attributes, projects, modules and align with assessment –Implementation Contact: Dr Peter Holt – or (02)