Project-Based Learning in Chemical Engineering

Abstract

Solutions to global challenges need a range of engineers with diverse skills and attributes, and it is the responsibility of engineering educators to shape the engineering education landscape, using their problem-solving expertise to educate future engineers for modern technological advances. Project-based learning (PjBL) is an educational approach that can integrate such needed skills and attributes into the curriculum. However, delivering a truly effective PjBL approach can be quite difficult without considering a holistic approach encompassing three key pillars: PjBL curriculum and assessment, PjBL culture, and physical and online PjBL spaces. This chapter presents a comprehensive overview of how PjBL has been successfully deployed across the Chemical Engineering curriculum at the University of Nottingham, UK, through the lenses of those pillars, and in the form of design projects, with a progressive integration and development of diverse skills and competencies throughout the years.