An Improved Distance Learning Environment For The Material And Energy Balances Course

The Kentucky Council on Post-Secondary Education has mandated goals of substantially increased enrollments in Engineering for Kentucky state-funded institutions over the next decade. As part of the process designed to meet this goal, the University of Kentucky has collaborated with other state institutions providing (or soon to provide) engineering education (University of Louisville, Murray State University, and Western Kentucky University), along with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) and selected independent colleges (e.g., Kentucky Wesleyan) to develop a collection of offerings of preengineering courses at community colleges across the state. The courses have been selected to allow students graduating from two-year programs to then enter four-year programs and complete an engineering degree within two additional years. As part of this project, the specific needs of certain courses have been considered in the redesign of distance-learning classrooms in order to provide an effective instructional environment. One of the courses to be offered is “Process Principles,” the sophomore course in material and energy balances common to virtually every chemical engineering program. An effective learning experience in this course is required for a student to be well prepared to continue in a chemical engineering program upon matriculation into a four-year institution. The evolutionary upgrade to the current compressed video distance-learning network in place across the Commonwealth is described. A long-term plan to incorporate pedagogical elements, such as collaborative learning, critical to an effective Process Principles course, is also proposed.