Abstract

Opportunities for hands-on learning in chemical engineering and technology

Author(s): Nazneen Hemingway

A joint university centre has been formed in the manufacturing facility of the refinery-petrochemical complex in Litvnov, Czech Republic, by the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, the Czech Technical University in Prague, and ORLEN Unipetrol. For more than 50 students enrolled in bachelor's and master's degree programmes, the university centre provides higher education. The relationship between the academic setting and the chemical industry has produced a special potential to use experiential learning in numerous instructional contexts. The University centre makes use of a recently constructed training facility that is furnished with a number of modules for instructing engineers, operators, and, at the moment, studentsDue to the training facility's beautiful surroundings, secondary and even primary schools have been added to the target demographic of pupils. The university centre arranges monthly training sessions at the training facility for secondary and primary schools. The purpose of these activities is to regularly put into practise contemporary experiential learning techniques and to increase the popularity of technical subjects among young pupils. More than 500 kids from over 30 secondary and primary schools participate in the programme each year, in addition to the University center's own pupils, demonstrating the significant popularity that this experiential education approach has attained in the area.