Specific and Optional Curriculum: An Experience in the Undergraduate Program of Chemical Engineering in Cienfuegos University, Cuba

This paper pursues to define the pillars for designing the specific (SC) and optional curricula (OC) of Unit Operations and Processes (UOP) Discipline in the Chemical Engineering Program. To achieve this objective a methodology was developed, which was characterized by the participation of every member in the educational process: professors, experts of industrial sector and students. The joint work made it possible to carry out a variety of tasks: the characterization of regional industries according to the academic requests of the UOP discipline, the identification of deficiencies in the basic curriculum (BC), the needs of industries in environmental matters and the students´ preferences in their optional professional formation. The result of this qualitative study expressed a high convergence of all the variables under study. The importance of arranging SC and OC was validated, among other important alternatives, towards environmental technologies. These subjects combine important contents in the academic order with significant contributions to solve imperative problems of the territory. The significance of taking into account the strategic matters associated with Biotechnology, Petroleum Technology, and Food Technologies, key subjects for indispensable development of our regional context, was also recognized.