CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CURRICULUM REDESIGN FOR INTEGRATING UN SDGS USING CDIO

This paper shares the process and outcomes of the efforts from the Diploma in Chemical Engineering (DCHE) offered by Singapore Polytechnic (SP) in integrating the Common Core Curriculum (CCC) using the CDIO Framework.  The CCC is an institutional-wide requirement applicable for all SP programs; and uses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) as context of learning generic, broad-based skills and attitudes needed in today’s world.  This was introduced into the 3-year DCHE program in Academic Year 2022/2023. The authors used the 12 core CDIO Standards to carry out standard-by-standard evaluation of the extent of sustainable development coverage in the existing DCHE curriculum.  The paper presents the opportunities where CCC modules could be integrated into the DCHE curriculum to build upon existing skills and attitudes with focus on key areas of chemical engineering and sustainable development as recommended by the Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK (IChemE) that accredits the DCHE program.  The paper then explains how the context for learning is set and how selected CCC modules and DCHE modules were paired, forming an integrated curriculum that further strengthens the existing spiral curriculum. New learning activities were created and existing activities were re-designed to integrate the generic skills taught in CCC modules into DCHE modules in the context and applications in chemical engineering. The paper then shares the findings from students on their experience in the new DCHE-CCC way of learning.  A quantitative survey was administered for students to rate their learning experiences with an open-ended question for them to express the challenges they faced when they had to apply the skills.  Focus group discussions with students were facilitated so that the authors could understand these challenges better.  The findings were generally positive with practical comments that form the areas of improvement to address the challenges.  Finally, the paper shares future plans for the DCHE course to review the coverage of sustainability in other modules through an integrated curriculum approach.