Increasing Student Retention in Chemical Engineering with Interactive Self-Study Modules

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This project aims to serve the national interest by improving student retention in undergraduate chemical engineering degree programs. Retention can be increased by helping students improve their performance in science, mathematics, and engineering courses. Students encounter difficulties in courses when they fall behind, are not properly prepared in pre-requisite courses, or have forgotten concepts from previous courses. This project will create a set of online, interactive self-study modules for three chemical engineering courses, with thirty modules created for each course. Each module will take approximately one hour for students to complete. These modules will be based on approaches that have been effective in helping students learn, including self-testing, introductory screencasts, interactive computer simulations, interactive tutorial simulations that lead students through a step-by step procedure, and example problems with student solutions. Modules will be freely available online through the www.LearnChemE.com site, maintained by the University of Colorado, Boulder. As a result, they have the potential to impact thousands of students. Although the project focuses on chemical engineering students, many modules will be useful for students in other engineering majors including mechanical, civil, aeronautical, and environmental engineering. The primary goal of this project is to increase student retention in undergraduate chemical engineering programs by improving student performance. Modular resources can help students understand key concepts and support active learning approaches that enhance student learning. These modules will be used either as part of a flipped classroom approach or as a resource that students use on their own. They will also be used to increase retention in in second-chance courses, which are intensive three-weeks courses offered, just after the end of the semester, to students who did not pass the course that semester. The module structure includes: (i) an overview describing the goals of the module and pre-requisites; (ii) formative assessment using conceptual questions and problems; (iii) short (3-6 minute) introductory screencasts with embedded questions; (iv) lists of important equations; (v) interactive simulations in which students are asked to predict system behavior; (vi) an interactive quiz-yourself simulation that asks students for input on a complex problem solution; (vii) example problems with screencast solutions; (viii) concept tests for summative assessment; and (ix) a summary with problem answers and a list of what students should be able to do after completing the module. The impact of the modules will be assessed by evaluating students’ performance on course exams after the modules are made available and comparing the results with students who did not have access to the modules. Modules will be disseminated through an existing online repository and the results of the project will be shared with engineering faculty through engineering education conferences and journals. This project is supported by the NSF IUSE: EHR Program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.