Learning-by-Doing: The Chem-E-Car Competition® in the University of Cantabria as case study

Abstract

It is widely known that the Learning-by-Doing (LbD) pedagogical tool is not the most common form of education in Chemical Engineering nowadays. The aim of this work is to describe the application of LbD considering as case of study the participation of undergraduate students from the Chemical Engineering Degree of the University of Cantabria (UC) from Spain in the Chem-E-Car Competition® in the 10th World Congress of Chemical Engineering (WCCE10). The Chem-E-Car Competition® is a world-known student event run by AIChE, which provides chemical engineering undergraduate students with the opportunity to participate in a team-oriented hands-on design and construction of a small prototype car powered by a chemical reaction. Within the context of the WCCE10, the competition gathered 18 teams from different countries all around the world. The UC team ended in the 6th position and won the award to the best inherent safety design. Overall, the benefits outpaced the time cost both for students and the teaching staff. This situation was not clear at the beginning of the project. Prior to this competition, LbD was used as an innovative pedagogical tool for the requested acquisition of competences. The proposal of a multi-annual Final Degree Programme was a win–win situation for all the stakeholders. From a teaching point of view, the LbD let transferable and core competences to be evaluated not only internally, but also externally thanks to the competition. A survey was completed among the students that participated in the project. Competences such as “Problem-solving” and “Adaptation to new situations” were pointed out as those which were developed in a higher level by the students.