1. Self Study of ChE Students’ Past Performance on FE Exams Prepared by T. W. Wang September, 2004

2. 1 Number of ChE Students Taking the FE Exams

3. 2 AM FE Exam Topic Areas (120 problems total, 1pt each) 1.Chemistry 2.Dynamics 3.Computers 4.Circuit 5.Economics 6.Ethics 7.Fluid Mechanics 8. Material Sci/str mat 9. Mathematics 10. Mechanics of Mat 11. Statics 12. Thermodynamics A total of 120 questions for 4 hrs

4. 3 ChE-Specific FE Exam Topic Areas (60 problems total 2 pts each) 1.Computer and Numerical Methods 5% 2.Reaction Engineering 10% 3.Thermodynamics 10% 4.Process Equip Design 5% 5.Heat Transfer 10% 6.Material/Energy Balance 15% 7.Mass Transfer 10% 8. Process control 5% 9. Process Design & Econ Eval 10% 10. Pollution 5% 11. Process Safety 5% 12.Transport phenomenon 10% A total of 60 questions for 4 hrs

5. 4 Summary of Past Performance ** Except for 1995 (3 people), 1996 (16) and 2001(24), UTK/ChE has consistently performed below both state and national averages ** Of those who don’t pass, they miss only by 1 to 9 points (70 is passing) --> 1 to 7 AM problems, or 1 to 3.5 PM problems

6. 5 Overall FE Performance Comparison

7. 6 Comparison of Past FE Performance

8. 7 Trend of UTK/ChE Performance

9. 8 A More Detailed Analysis of AM FE Exam Performance, 1999-2004 in 12 Topic Areas

10. 9 ChE Students Do Better in the Morning FE Exams (so do national students) Average % Correct in AM and PM Exams from 2000-2004

11. 10 AM FE Exam Topic Areas 1.Chemistry 2.Dynamics 3.Computers 4.Circuit 5.Economics 6.Ethics 7.Fluid Mechanics 8. Material Sci/str mat 9. Mathematics 10. Mechanics of Mat 11. Statics 12. Thermodynamics

12. 11 AM and ChE Exam Performance, 1997-1999

13. 12 AM and ChE Exam Performance, 2000-2004

14. 13 UTK/ChE PM FE Performance (% correct in the 12 areas), 1999-2004

15. 14 1999 AM FE Exam We scored below that of National in all categories except for Mat Sci. wang

16. 15 2000 AM FE Exam Below National: computers, circuit; flu mech; Above National: econ; ethics

17. 16 2001 AM Exam Performance

18. 17 2002 AM Exam Performance Below national: fluid mech; math; statics; thermo

19. 18 2003 AM Exam Performance Below National: dynamics; circuits; statics Above Natinal: ethics MS; math

20. 19 2004 AM Exam Performance Below National: ethics; math; fluid mech; thermo Above National: computers; econ; mat sci

21. 20 Summary of AM FE Exam Topic Area Performance ChemitryAvg or slightly below DynamicsAvg and sometimes below ComputersAvg CircuitSignificant below; but avg in 2004 (reviewed) EconomicsAverage to sometime above EthicsAvg to above

22. 21 Summary of AM FE Exam Topic Area Performance Fluid MechMostly below Mat Sci/Str MatAvg to above MathAvg (sig below in 2004) Mech of MaterMostly avg (sometimes below) Statics Sig below in 3 yrs; avg in 2 years; above in 1(2001) ThermoMostly avg ; below (2002)

23. Detailed Analysis of ChE Specific Exam Performance 1999-2004 in 12 Topic Areas

24. 23 ChE-Specific FE Exam Topic Areas 1.Computer and Numerical Methods 5% 2.Reaction Engineering 10% 3.Thermodynamics 10% 4.Process Equip Design 5% 5.Heat Transfer 10% 6.Material/Energy Balance 15% 7.Mass Transfer 10% 8. Process control 5% 9. Process Design & Econ Eval 10% 10. Pollution 5% 11. Process Safety 5% 12. Transport phenomenon 10%

25. 24 ChE Specific Exam, 1997-1999

26. 25 ChE Specific Exam, 2000-2004

27. 26 1999 ChE Exam Performance (the worst of all years studied) Below National: comp; reaction; balan; mass tran; control; pollution; safety; transport

28. 27 2000 ChE Exam Performance Below National: proc equip; balance; transport Above National: computers; reaaction; heat & mass transf; control; design; pollution

29. 28 2001 ChE Exam Performance Below National: Heat and mass transfer; control; design; transport Above National: reaction; proc equip; pollution

30. 29 2002 ChE Exam Performance Below national: Thermo; proc equip; mat-eng bal; design; transport; Above: mass transf; pollu

31. 30 2003 ChE Exam Performance Below National: comp num method; mat & eng bal; heat & mass transf; proc equip; transport Above National: proc equip design

32. 31 2004 ChE Exam Performance Below National: computer; reaction; thermo; heat & mass transf; mat/heat bal;

33. 32 Summary of ChE Exam Performance by Topic Areas Compared to That of National ComputerAbove & below; signif below in recent years Reaction engAbove & avg; signif below in 2004 ThermoAvg (signif below in 2002, 2004) Proc EquipAbove and below Heat TransfAvg to below Mat/Eng BalMostly significantly below Mass TransfSignificantly above and below

34. 33 Summary of ChE Exam Performance by Topic Areas Compared to That of National Process controlAverage; sometimes above and below Design and EconAvg to below except sig above in 1 yr PollutionAvg to above SafetyAvg but above in 2004 TransportAlways below; significant below in some years

35. 34 Percent Passing Difference (ChE-National) in All Subjects for the Past 5 years

36. 35 Difference in Performance between UTK/ChE and National in all 24 Subjects for the Past 5 Years

37. 36 The ‘Average’ Score Difference over the Last 5 years (Scores onto the 1st PC, 37%) Year 2000’s performance is most unlike that of the other years; 2004 displays the most the trend displayed by the 1st PC

38. 37 The Difference between Plain Average and the 1st PC Plain average

39. 38 PCA Average & Correlation Analysis Plots for All Subj. for Score Diff bet UTK/ChE and National 0.37 0.26

40. 39 Year 2000 Performance Is Unusual (2nd PC)

41. 40 Analysis Summary 1 ChE performed above that of national average in –Process Equipment Design –Ethics –Engineering Economics –Material Science/Strength of Material

42. 41 Analysis Summary 2 Passing rate of our students has been steadily declining over the past years (70% in 2004) UTK/ChE performs below that of national in quite a few subject matters in most years Weakest performance in –Circuit, fluid mechanics, and statics –Material and Energy Balance –Heat and Mass Transfer –Transport –Computer and numerical methods

43. 42 Possible Means for Improvement Formal orientation period at the beginning of ChE401 Letter grades from A to F Continued stress of FE in junior and senior/fall courses No retake of 401 exam allowed; Homework problems (shoing work) for each topic (multiple choice) ; and make it mandatory to get a grade Additional review of selected morning exam topics; department purchase professional FE review videos for AM sections Other suggestions?