Abstract:

Currently, most of the key technical skills they learn in higher education, including analytic and problem-solving abilities, might be ineffectual unless accompanied by the professional skills necessary to bring them into play (Mohan et al., 2009), such as those that are ‘generic’ or ‘transferable’ (e.g., ‘problem-solving skills’)”. Current research is focused on innovative pedagogical methodologies to boost transferable skills such as cooperative learning, learning by doing, life-long-learning, problem-based-learning, interdisciplinary cooperation and flipped classroom, among others. Thus, there is a need for a new teaching pedagogy that changes the role of the teacher from a knowledge disseminator to a learner coach and helper. This project aims to promote the use of pedagogical and technological resources helping to train transferable skills in the area of Chemical Engineering, applying active teaching-learning methodologies and multimedia resources available in the Information Age. All methodologies are being applied in different degrees of the University of Valencia.

The Apps Socrative and Kahoot were applied for consolidating whilst evaluating the theoretical content of the subject to enhance the meaningful motivational learning. These tools were used in the lessons of the subject Pollution Control Technologies of the Degree of Environmental Sciences, the subject Environment and Sustainability of the Degree in Industrial Electronic Engineering, and the subject Environmental Biotechnology Processes Engineering of the Degree in Biotechnology. The professors launched a quiz in order to get instant feedback, visual the student understanding and promote discussion about the content. Hence, during the quiz, dialogic circles were raised following each question to prospect the insight in the acquired knowledge.

Especially interesting was the use of Instagram App in the subject Water Treatment Technologies of the Degree in Chemical Engineering. The activity consisted of dividing the students into groups and each of them had to play a role inside a Water Treatment Plant answering about the operating situations launched through the App. One group acted as facility manager and the rest played as pollutants. Each new situation was presented with an image in the app introducing a treatment stage. Students acting as pollutants had to answer if they are affected, how and, sometimes, give an approximate value for their concentration after the treatment. Facility manager had to detect whether pollutants fate are consistent with the treatment stage.

Methodology for assessing the impact of the tools used to train transferable skills consisted on different surveys at three checkpoints: before the beginning of the use of App, a control point during the use to implement corrective measure when detected, and at the end of the semester to evaluate the global impact. The individual results obtained by applying different tools will serve as the basis of Mutual learning for the identification and selection of effective and viable methodologies for educational innovation in the area of Chemical Engineering.

References:
[1] Mohan A., Merle D. Jackson C., Lannin J., Nair S. S. 2009. Professional Skills in the Engineering Curriculum. IEEE Transactions on Education 53(4): 562 – 571

Keywords:

Chemical engineering, technological resources, transferable skills.