A Web Based Complement To Teaching Conservation Of Mass In A Chemical Engineering Curriculum

Web-based instructional modules have been widely used to teach engineering topics. In many cases, the modules are developed for a chosen topic at a specific point in the curriculum. A different approach is being pursued to develop interlinked curriculum components (ICCs), which can be used by students at many different points in the four-year curriculum. As envisioned during their development, faculty members might use an ICC to introduce students to a set of concepts or use an ICC to provide a review of a set of concepts when they will be used in a more advanced course. The initial ICC prototype focuses on conservation of mass (CoM). A description of the CoM ICC is provided together with preliminary results. Introduction A chemical engineering department, with NSF support, is renewing its entire four-year curriculum to achieve four additional student learning outcomes: 1. Apply fundamental ideas over an expanded range of time and length scales 2. Apply ChE fundamental ideas to emerging application areas 3. Construct solutions for more complex, more open-ended synthesis tasks 4. Transfer fundamentals and knowledge to unforeseen future challenges