2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

To encourage students to pursue chemical engineering at undergraduate and graduate level engineering programs, the motivations behind student involvement and success in this field must be examined and adapted to accordingly. In this study, an educational comic has been created and distributed to university students to investigate whether career prospects impact student motivation in pursuit of chemical engineering on an institutional level. This comic was then distributed to students beginning their first undergraduate year at XXXXXX and who had not yet definitively declared their major.

This comic dismantles two key misconceptions that may discourage students from pursuing chemical engineering: limited scope of industrial opportunities and restrictive skill sets relating exclusively to chemistry and math. To overcome these misconceptions, the comic demonstrates a student questioning their career interests and learning about the fluidity of chemical engineering work in various industrial contexts. This educational tool delves into industries such as oil and gas, material science, drug discovery, sustainable energy, environmental preservation, agriculture, and food science. Through the inclusion of these industries, the comic provides a clear but thorough introduction into the breadth of environmental, social, and scientific impact that chemical engineers can have. The comic also emphasizes the diversity of knowledge bases and skill sets chemical engineers use to combat the fallacy that their work is exclusively based on chemistry or math.

For a baseline, students were instructed to complete the Felder Soloman Learning Style survey to assess their preference for visual or verbal learning tools. Further survey questions assessed the impact of the comic to boost student engagement, comprehension, and retention of learning materials. Some students were also personally interviewed to gain a more holistic evaluation of their attitude and understanding towards pursuing chemical engineering as a career.

The results of this study indicate greater student interest in pursuing chemical engineering and showcase the power of expanding educational tools to better showcase the possibilities that await graduates.