(537c) Active Learning in Small Classroom and Large Classroom of Fundamental Chemical Engineering Courses

Active learning has been implemented after 2012 chemical engineering summer school in sophomore class of Mass and Energy Balances (I and II).  In small classroom (30-40), this approach works very well and students like to interact with the instructor and the peers.  Active learning keeps the students focused and involved during the instruction.  The instruction outcome is very effective.  When translating the active learning into the large classroom (more than 60), some difficulties showed up such as keeping the students more focused.  Active learning takes longer time in large classroom and managing the students is more time consuming.  More creative and structured approaches in active learning need to be developed.  The group project is one example of implementing active learning in large classroom.  The instruction outcome was assessed by the student survey at the conclusion of the course both for small classroom and large classroom over three semesters.  The results indicated that active leaning approach needs to be adjusted based on the class size and more effective active learning skills need to be developed for the classroom that has a large amount of students.