Inspired by the training methods of Mr. Miyagi in the 1984 classic movie, The Karate Kid, weekly “Muscle Memory Exercises” were developed for a CHME 101 Introduction to Chemical Engineering to facilitate student practice in critical skills. The skills are Draw a Process Diagram from a written description (“Wax On, Wax Off”), Perform Unit Analysis to convert between and work with complex units (“Sand the Floor”), Estimate Order of Magnitude to pre-calculate approximate answers to check calculations (“Paint the Fence”), and Determine Number of Significant Digits to communicate expected precision about calculated answers (“Paint the House”). The presentation will include examples as the exercises become more complex over the course of the semester and incorporate the range of chemical engineering subdisciplines. One particularly engaging exercise has been the development of a class set of “standard units” for mass, distance and time, and the conversion of common complex units used in engineering (pressure, viscosity, force, etc.) into units that the students created. The presentation will also include how the Muscle Memory Exercises support the course learning objectives and assessments for the modules on chemical engineering degrees and careers, chemical process variables (concentration, temperature, pressure, flow rate), and applications of spreadsheets.
