(541c) Effective PBL in Senior Design: Examples & Lessons

With problem-based learning (PBL) students learn by solving an open-ended problem. Education research suggests that PBL is one of the trickiest instruction modes to implement. For example, some studies found that PBL success is more sensitive, compared to other instruction methods, to the subject matter ‘expert level’ of the instructor. PBL furthermore tends to fail more drastically when it becomes overly student self-directed (Prince, Journal of Engineering Education, 93(3), 2004). Virtually every BS Chemical Engineering program in the USA culminates with a capstone design module that is inherently a PBL exercise. Is this experience always, or even typically, as effective a learning experience as it could be?

This presentation will share a few examples drawn from two new BS Chemical Engineering programs, the first at the Rochester Institute of Technology (first graduating class 2013) and the second from the University of Iceland (first class 2017). New programs afford a unique ‘blank sheet’ opportunity to assemble a complete curriculum from scratch with no historical baggage and test alternative approaches.

The presentation will include a brief survey of design sequence curriculum choices across institutions in the USA. Selected examples of tried-and-tested design problems with specific learning outcomes will be shared. The importance of curriculum integration will be illustrated.