Critical Thinking In the Chemical Engineering Curriculum

Critical thinking skills have not traditionally been listed among learning outcomes, so, is it important to train our students to be “critical thinkers?” What are we doing and how might we incorporate critical thinking skills activities into our chemical engineering curriculum? Is everything we do “critical thinking?” Just how is critical thinking defined and how do we assess if someone is using critical thinking skills? The objective of this session is to explore these and other questions regarding the potential for enhancing student critical thinking. This session will highlight techniques used in the chemical engineering curriculum to engage undergraduate students in critical thinking skills, from the first year up through senior design and multidisciplinary-based projects. Contributions in these areas and how critical thinking fits into ABET accreditation are sought.