Sustainability in chemical engineering curriculum

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe a concentrated strategy to embed sustainability teaching into a (chemical) engineering undergraduate curriculum throughout the whole programme. Innovative teaching approaches in subject‐specific context are described and their efficiency investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

The activities in chemical engineering include a week‐long module introducing fundamentals of chemical engineering in the first year, a number of industrially relevant case studies within enquiry based learning (EBL) that have a great societal impact. Information regarding the transition towards EBL, the case studies on fuel cell effectiveness and sustainable plant design are provided in this contribution. Emphasis is placed on the methods of assessment of student learning, and evaluation of student preferences of delivery is included. Student focus groups and diamond ranking are used to evaluate the effectiveness of delivery.

Findings

Focus groups and diamond ranking have confirmed that students appreciate that sustainable development is a key issue for future engineers to understand and the case study workshops are a realistic, enjoyable and effective teaching method.

Originality/value

The paper describes the authors' efforts to embed sustainability into a curriculum from week 1 of chemical engineering curriculum, as well as providing input on sustainability into the curriculum of the remaining engineering disciplines. These approaches can be useful for other engineering higher education providers in ensuring effective sustainability education.

Citation

Glassey, J. and Haile, S. (2012), "Sustainability in chemical engineering curriculum", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 354-364. https://doi.org/10.1108/14676371211262308