Final published version
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Students’ changing accounts of chemical engineering
T2 - a longitudinal study in three countries
AU - Ashwin, Paul
AU - Agrawal, Ashish
AU - Blackie, Margaret
AU - McArthur, Jan
AU - Pitterson, Nicole
AU - Smit, Renee
PY - 2025/5/27
Y1 - 2025/5/27
N2 - In this article we examine how students’ accounts of chemical engineering change during their undergraduate degrees and whether these changes were related to the educational intentions of their degree programs in two English, two South African and two US universities. Based on interviews with forty-five students over the course of their undergraduate chemical engineering degree, we found that initially most students did not know what chemical engineering was or thought it was about undertaking chemistry on a large scale. By the end of their degrees, most students had reached a watershed account of chemical engineering and saw it as about the design of large-scale processes of production. The changes in students’ accounts of chemical engineering appeared to be related to the educational intentions of their degree programs. We explore the implications of these outcomes for curriculum development in chemical engineering.
AB - In this article we examine how students’ accounts of chemical engineering change during their undergraduate degrees and whether these changes were related to the educational intentions of their degree programs in two English, two South African and two US universities. Based on interviews with forty-five students over the course of their undergraduate chemical engineering degree, we found that initially most students did not know what chemical engineering was or thought it was about undertaking chemistry on a large scale. By the end of their degrees, most students had reached a watershed account of chemical engineering and saw it as about the design of large-scale processes of production. The changes in students’ accounts of chemical engineering appeared to be related to the educational intentions of their degree programs. We explore the implications of these outcomes for curriculum development in chemical engineering.
U2 - 10.1080/03043797.2025.2509633
DO - 10.1080/03043797.2025.2509633
M3 - Journal article
JO - European Journal of Engineering Education
JF - European Journal of Engineering Education
SN - 1469-5898
ER -