2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Experiential immersive learning not only provides a platform for students to learn by performing hands-on projects, but also, with proper planning, it helps with development of their collaboration, communication, safety considerations, and critical thinking skills. On the contrary, project-based learning comes with its own set of drawbacks, including the considerable time, energy, and resources instructors must invest in developing and implementing the course.
In this work, we argue that, with proper planning over the span of several semesters, instructors can successfully transform a lecture-based first year course sequence for Chemical and Petroleum engineers’ offering. This transformation aims to provide students with the active learning experience in a project-based team environment while significantly reducing the reliance on traditional lectures. At Mississippi State University, the Introduction to Chemical and Petroleum Engineering course (fall semester) and the Chemical Engineering Analysis course (spring semester) are examples of such an achievement. Beginning in 2005, transformation of the lecture-based Chemical Engineering Analysis course began with a modest transition to allow students learn STEM concepts through hands-on scientific team experimentation. Year-by-year advancements have transformed the course to a predominantly project-based learning approach with minimal traditional lectures. Through such transformations, this course meets all ABET student outcomes criteria 1 through 7. With the re-establishment of the Petroleum engineering bachelor’s degree program in 2015, Petroleum engineering freshmen joined the Chemical Engineering Analysis course. In fall 2023, Chemical and Petroleum engineering freshmen were combined for an Introduction to Chemical and Petroleum Engineering course. The aim was to offer a comprehensive first-year experience blending project-based learning with additional content delivered through lectures.
Supplementing technical content, these courses focus on safety, sustainable engineering, environmental awareness, teamwork, and technical communications. Team Challenges addressing topics such as flow through porous media, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer provide textual and video guidance for teams to conduct projects making iterative improvements. Students create technical reports summarizing experimental results with team oral presentations. Microsoft Excel is used for data collection and analysis, aligning with industry data management practices.
To assess students' engagement, perspective on engineering, understanding of specific subjects, and preference for this course over lecture-based courses, surveys and assessments are conducted at the semester's start, end, and after significant course milestones. These evaluations are aligned with ABET Student Outcomes 1-7 and Program Specific criteria. Assessment methods include direct observation of team interactions, grading of technical reports using rubrics, and data management using Microsoft Excel. The data collected in 2023-24 will be compared to previous assessments of Chemical engineering students to track improvements and gauge the course's effectiveness.
In conclusion, this study highlights the successful transformation of a traditional engineering course into an experiential immersive learning experience. It demonstrates the positive impact on student engagement, skill development, and understanding of course materials. The study also emphasizes the importance of continuous assessment and improvement to ensure the effectiveness of project-based learning approaches.