New Problem-Based Learning Laboratories on Chemicals from Biorenewables Charles Glatz, Surya Mallapragada, Balaji Narasimhan, Peter Reilly and Jacqueline Shanks Department of Chemical Engineering Mary Huba Educational Leadership and Policy

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New Problem-Based Learning Laboratories on
Chemicals from BiorenewablesCharles Glatz,
Surya Mallapragada, Balaji Narasimhan, Peter
Reilly and Jacqueline ShanksDepartment of
Chemical EngineeringMary HubaEducational
Leadership and Policy StudiesIowa State
University, Ames, IA 50011-2230
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Vision

• We have developed four 1-credit open-ended,
  multidisciplinary laboratory courses involving
  Chemicals from Biorenewables. These
  problem-based learning laboratories have been
  integrated with existing and new
  bioengineering-related ChE classes
• Target audience
• undergraduate (seniors) and graduate students in
  Chemical Engineering
• undergraduate and graduate students in
  Biochemistry and Biophysics, Biology and Food
  Science.

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Motivation Topic

• ChE evolving from a petrochemical-based to a
  biorenewables-based discipline. Examples
• Product Species used Company
• Indigo Microbial Genencor
• (Poly)lactic acid Microbial Cargill/Dow
• Biopol Microbial/plants Monsanto
• 1,3 propane diol Microbial DuPont
• Although classical chemical engineering and the
  material sciences will
  remain extremely important well into the
  future, it will be difficult, if not impossible,
  to maintain the benefits of developed economies
  and extend them to developing countries in a
  sustainable manner without employing
  biotechnology". DuPont website
• Current ChE curriculum does not reflect this
  trend
• Introduce new courses to cover this new
  technology

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Motivation Educational

• Problem-based learning
• Open-ended problems
• Learning based approach
• Students direct learning of the topic
• Problems provide motivation for learning
• Multidisciplinary
• Team-based approach
• ABET criteria
• Life-long learning

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Curriculum Structure

• Four new 1-credit laboratories - each associated
  with an existing or new ChE undergraduate/
  graduate level biotechnology related theory
  course
• Each laboratory course has one open-ended design
  project topic and list of desired outcomes
• Students work in teams of three - each team has a
  student with a biology/biochemistry background
• Opportunity for problem-based, student-directed,
  multidisciplinary team-based learning
• Bioethics component

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Curriculum Structure- Chemicals from
Biorenewables
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General Lab Course Outline

• First three weeks Common component for all the
  lab classes - Teach students statistics,
  bioethics, how to work in teams, literature
  searches, laboratory notebooks. Faculty member
  plays role of instructor with learning exercises
  in context of technical content of the course.
• Next three weeksLiterature review, coming up
  with plan for solving the problem, team roles,
  some laboratory training. Faculty member plays
  role of coach
• Next eight weeks Implementation of plan,
  experimental design. Faculty member plays role of
  coach
• Last two weeks Wrapping up, written and oral
  presentations

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Description of Laboratory Courses

• Bioinformatics - (to be offered Spring 03
  Reilly) - Development of bioinformatic and
  virtual reality techniques for investigating and
  predicting enzyme structure and function
• Metabolic Engineering - (offered Spring 02
  Shanks) - Combination of experimental methods
  with mathematical analysis of the metabolism of
  ethanol fermentation from the yeast S. Cerevisiae
• Bioseparations - (offering Fall 02 Glatz) -
  Development of a process for recovering
  recombinant proteins expressed in an oilseed
• Tissue Engineering - (offering Fall 02
  Mallapragada, Narasimhan) - Development of a
  bioreactor to cultivate bioartificial skin in
  vitro on suitable biodegradable polymer scaffolds

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Impact

• Make ChE education more relevant for our
  undergraduate students
• Teach students
• problem-based learning techniques
• develop their metacognitive abilities
• life-long learning
• Coupling these educational techniques with valued
  new technologies
• Integrate some of these new experiments in a non
  open-ended manner into the required ChE
  undergraduate laboratories

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Assessment

• Self-assessment and peer-assessment using
• Teamwork rubric
• Design rubric
• Written report rubric
• Oral presentation rubric
• Acknowledgment
• NSF Combined Research and Curriculum Development
  Grant EEC 0087696

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Designing and Conducting Experiments   .
Design Able to develop and describe a planned experiment that relates to problem. Hypotheses clearly relate to previous knowledge. Can identify necessary steps and timeline. Works collaboratively on the development of the project Formulates a hypothesis and develops a project, experiment, or series of experiments that will address the problem. Anticipates possible outcomes. Fails to formulate hypothesis to test. Does not express possible outcomes.
Use of Evidence Continuously uses results to refine problem-solving plan. Draws correct conclusions from results and generates presentation information (e.g., plots, tables, calculations) that consistently aid understanding of the problem. Explores new ways of doing tasks. Adjusts experimental plan on basis of new knowledge. Usually plots/tabulates results and performs calculations to aid reaching conclusions. Does not base conclusions on evidence. Calculations contain errors. Plots use wrong axes.
Documentation Documentation is comprehensive and includes detailed instructions that would allow you to repeat the experiment later using only your notes. Extra data sheets are firmly attached and numbered. Provides organized documentation of experimental results. Data sheets are numbered. (See detailed notebook instructions.) Fails to maintain an organized laboratory notebook. Unable to locate experimental results due to lack of organization.
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