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Students' changing accounts of chemical engineering: a longitudinal study in three countries.

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Title: Students' changing accounts of chemical engineering: a longitudinal study in three countries.
Authors: Ashwin, Paul1 (AUTHOR) paul.ashwin@lancaster.ac.uk, Agrawal, Ashish2 (AUTHOR), Blackie, Margaret3 (AUTHOR), McArthur, Jan1 (AUTHOR), Pitterson, Nicole4 (AUTHOR), Smit, Reneé5 (AUTHOR)
Source: European Journal of Engineering Education. Jun2026, Vol. 51 Issue 3, p521-536. 16p.
Subjects: Chemical engineering, Undergraduate programs, Curriculum planning, Psychology of students, Education research, Educational objectives, Longitudinal method, Chemical engineering education
Abstract: In this article we examine how students' accounts of chemical engineering change during their undergraduate degrees and whether these changes were related to the educational intentions of their degree programs in two English, two South African and two US universities. Based on interviews with forty-five students over the course of their undergraduate chemical engineering degree, we found that initially most students did not know what chemical engineering was or thought it was about undertaking chemistry on a large scale. By the end of their degrees, most students had reached a watershed account of chemical engineering and saw it as about the design of large-scale processes of production. The changes in students' accounts of chemical engineering appeared to be related to the educational intentions of their degree programs. We explore the implications of these outcomes for curriculum development in chemical engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of European Journal of Engineering Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: egs
DbLabel: Engineering Source
An: 194299850
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
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  Data: Students' changing accounts of chemical engineering: a longitudinal study in three countries.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22European+Journal+of+Engineering+Education%22">European Journal of Engineering Education</searchLink>. Jun2026, Vol. 51 Issue 3, p521-536. 16p.
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  Data: In this article we examine how students' accounts of chemical engineering change during their undergraduate degrees and whether these changes were related to the educational intentions of their degree programs in two English, two South African and two US universities. Based on interviews with forty-five students over the course of their undergraduate chemical engineering degree, we found that initially most students did not know what chemical engineering was or thought it was about undertaking chemistry on a large scale. By the end of their degrees, most students had reached a watershed account of chemical engineering and saw it as about the design of large-scale processes of production. The changes in students' accounts of chemical engineering appeared to be related to the educational intentions of their degree programs. We explore the implications of these outcomes for curriculum development in chemical engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of European Journal of Engineering Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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        Value: 10.1080/03043797.2025.2509633
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 16
        StartPage: 521
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      – SubjectFull: Chemical engineering
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Undergraduate programs
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Curriculum planning
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      – SubjectFull: Psychology of students
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      – SubjectFull: Education research
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      – SubjectFull: Educational objectives
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      – SubjectFull: Longitudinal method
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      – SubjectFull: Chemical engineering education
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      – TitleFull: Students' changing accounts of chemical engineering: a longitudinal study in three countries.
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              M: 06
              Text: Jun2026
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              Y: 2026
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