Framework and Initial Steps Towards Industry-Relevant Undergraduate Electrochemical Engineering Education

Abstract

It is widely expected that the use of electrochemical processes will grow rapidly in the coming decade. This growing industry requires a commensurate workforce. However, currently there is little educational infrastructure nationally to provide the number of well-educated incoming engineers and scientists that are needed. Using a design-based research approach, we have developed a framework for curricular development in undergraduate electrochemical engineering, and report here on the first author’s first course offering as the beginning of an iterative refinement process.Our education and research framework is outlined in Figure 1, which illustrates the four main aspects of the project – learning goals, tools, courses, and research – and shows how they are connected. There are two learning goals for students. First, the development of conceptual understanding of electrochemical topics enables them to develop the knowledge structures needed to access and operationalize the content in new contexts, such as in industrial practice. Second, engaging students in disciplinary practices provides an authentic experience of the sociotechnical work faced by engineers in industry. These goals will be realized using tools housed in the Concept Warehouse, an online instructional tool constructed by members of our research team. Tools include concept questions provided to students in class to develop their conceptual understanding, which will then be assessed using a concept inventory in development. An industrially-situated virtual laboratory will allow students to experience a realistic task that engages them in both knowledge practices and social practices of professional engineers. Instructors at a range of institutions, beginning with Tufts University, will teach electrochemical engineering courses. They will design the courses according to how they best fit their individual context, but all courses will incorporate the two learning goals and will be supported by the three tools. The project will be supported by a comprehensive research plan that contains two studies – an interview study and a design-based research (DBR) study. First, we plan to interview practicing engineers in the electrochemistry industry to understand both the conceptual knowledge they rely on (for development of the concept inventory) and disciplinary practices they use in their work (to inform the industrially-situated virtual laboratory). Second, using a DBR approach, we will utilize multiple data sources to both improve the instructional design of these courses and develop transferable knowledge about the development of conceptual understanding and disciplinary practices using these instructional tools.In this work, we report on the development of the framework and on the electrochemical engineering course developed and delivered in Fall 2024 by the first author, a post-doctoral fellow at Tufts University, as a pilot. This was also the first author’s first solo course delivery, and general insights on this process will also be shared. The course was offered to 13 students, of whom 8 were undergraduate chemical engineering students, one was a master’s student, and 4 were PhD students. The first half of the course centered electrochemistry fundamentals, using Electrochemical Engineering by Thomas Fuller and John Harb as a reference text, and emphasized conceptual understanding using concept questions and culminating in an entirely conceptual mid-term exam. In the second half of the course, students explored practical applications of electrochemistry, supported by conversations with industry professionals, culminating in a final project on an application of interest for each student.Finally, we discuss next steps in this project, in particular ongoing development of a virtual laboratory and concept inventory, as well as inter-institutional collaboration. Figure 1