(517b) Promotion of an Inclusive Classroom in the Chemical Engineering Program

When students feel comfortable to be who they are and feel that they are part of a supportive environment, it has a positive impact on their learning, academic accomplishments, and retention in their undergraduate program. Chemical Engineering program in general has the reputation of being difficult and highly competitive. It is inevitable for the students to feel overwhelmed and disconnected while handling all the stress and the intensity of the program. Without the presence of sufficient support, the students might suffer from mental health issues, fall behind in their studies, and feel inclined to drop out of the program. Thus, it is imperative for the professors to spend some time to create a classroom environment that not only provides high-quality education but also considers the overall well-being of the students. Some initiatives have been implemented in an elective Chemical Engineering course in our institution, typically taken by sophomores and juniors. Some examples of the initiatives are incorporating a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statement in the course syllabus, emphasizing the importance of an inclusive classroom at the beginning of the semester, pausing multiple times during a lecture to provide the students sufficient time to absorb the lecture content, providing recorded lectures to accommodate all students' learning pace, creating opportunities for developing connections with the peers through group discussions and group project, having lower weighted exams, and checking on the students to make sure they are doing okay, especially during the exams. A research study is currently being conducted in this course to assess the impact of these initiatives on the students' sense of belonging in the Chemical Engineering major.