Journal of Technology and Science Education

CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS: A KEY FACTOR FOR SOCIAL AND

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

Juan Antonio Llorens-Molina1, Gabriel Pinto2

1
E.T.S. de Ingeniería Agronómica y del Medio Natural, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 2E.T.S. de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad
Politécnica de Madrid
Spain
juallom2@qim.upv.es, gabriel.pinto@upm.es

The peculiarity of Chemistry as a basic subject in Engineering Studies and its embedded potental difcultes are
maters which are now common to universites worldwide. In partcular, the learning of Chemistry in the new
(post Bologna) degrees of Engineering in Spain and other countries is facing several challenges. In other words,
there is a need to deepen into research and innovaton tasks aiming at improving such studies within this new
educatonal paradigm. Not to menton, two crucial aspects which are very ofen neglected, namely, reaching
maximum efciency of all types of available resources and obtaining a “knock on efect” from students and
teachers at Secondary school level. The later playing a crucial role so as to increase students’ awareness of the
importance that Chemistry has at this partcular educatonal level. Not to menton, how this increases their
motvaton towards this subject in the Higher Educaton scenario.
These challenges concern not only the relevance of the contents per se but also the methodological tools
involved. Being more precise, we could summarize them as follows:
• The need to reach a greater relevance of Chemistry contents through its social and technological
contextualizaton, linking them to both academic and professional profles within the several degrees
right from the very frst year. In this sense, it might be necessary to have a deeper refecton on some
of the contents traditonally included in the introductory Chemistry courses by following its advances
as a Science as well as its technological applicatons.
• To relate Chemistry subjects with competences’ acquisiton. Both the acquisiton and the assessment
of cross-curricular and generic competences (ethics, creatvity, instrumental handling, problem-solving
skills, report development, oral communicaton, teamwork, autonomous learning, etc.). All within the
specifc competences of the subject itself and gradually incorporated throughout the degree are
factors that contribute to implement Chemistry subjects in the context of the current academic change
and challenge. Therefore, all the methodological innovaton pursuing such objectve should be
enhanced.
• The role of experimental work needs a deep revision as the actvites carried out in the Lab must be
seen as real opportunites of acquiring knowledge through students’ own experimentaton as they not
only follow the scientfc method but also prove an associated theory. In additon, the experimentaton
in Chemistry has undergone signifcant transformaton as a consequence of the introducton of the
new technologies, ICTs (Informaton and Communicaton Technologies) which enable access to quality
audio-visual and interactve resources that facilitate the learning-teaching process of such
experimentaton.
• The implementaton of new technologies. Moving a step further, the wide range of possibilites that
the web ofers users nowadays obliges us to rigorously analyze how the students use it and which are
the optmal conditons of web use inside and outside the classroom. Likewise, the implementaton of
computer applicatons for virtual experimentaton, process modeling, etc. requires, at the same tme, a
great deal of efort into investgaton and innovaton. The ultmate goal being to produce a set of good
practces for teachers to incorporate in their daily job routnes.

Journal of Technology and Science Educaton. Vol 4(4), 2014, pp 201

On-line ISSN 2013-6374 – Print-ISSN 2014-5349 DL: B-2000-2012 – htp://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jotse.140
 Journal of Technology and Science Educaton – htp://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jotse.48

• The commitment of Chemistry teaching with the environment and the enhancement of healthy
behavior and solidarity. The teaching of Chemistry, as any other subject, cannot ignore the problems
and aspiratons of the society where it is developed. In this vein, Chemistry can lead to signifcant
contributons: from incorporatng sustainability in the lab work (through the implementaton of
experimental actvites at micro scale) to increasing the awareness on proper disposal of the waste
products or spreading healthy food habits, for example.
In this sense, the present issue of the Journal of Technology and Science Educaton - JOTSE consists of six
papers. In the frst paper, Javier Giménez from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Barcelona Tech) describes
how students can use their knowledge of Chemistry in order to understand the Science involved in the
technological development carried out at the Ancient Egipt. As an example of case study, students propose
solutons to the variaton in the colour of the hieroglyphs painted in a papyrus. As pointed out by the author, it
is a way to introduce Engineering students to humanistc knowledge with the help of Chemistry and to learn
this subject through a Humanites course.
The second paper is from Kevin Pyat from Regis University (Denver, USA), who analyzes the efectveness of a
curriculum and sofware implementaton that was used to teach and assess frst-year Chemistry students
understanding of chemical reactons and equatons.
The third paper is from a group of authors (Salome Chepkorir, Edna Marusoi Cheptonui and Agnes Chemutai)
from University of Eldoret, Kenya, who discuss several aspects on the teaching methods used by Chemistry
teachers. As a mater of fact, these scholars outline the teachers’ availability to fulfll students’ varied needs,
their use of teaching and learning resources, teachers’ personal levels of skills and knowledge of the subject
mater (Chemistry) and the impact of students’ negatve attudes towards this partcular subject on teachers’
efectveness. Although this study was performed in secondary schools, conclusions can be extended to other
educatve levels.
The fourth paper by Liberato Cardellini, from Italy, presents his experience about difcultes encountered by
students in solving chemical problems. He emphasizes about the logical process that takes place while solving
problems in order to improve students reasoning, a step further than just applying formulae.
The ffh paper, from Luis A. Tortajada, from Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain) deals with a well-known
and key issue in Chemistry: the efectve use of algorithms in contrast to a poor understanding of chemical
concepts. This work is a valuable contributon in order to analyze and overcome this problem. For this purpose,
collaboratve learning strategies are put into practce and, at the same tme, useful criteria for their
management and assessment are provided. The results give clear evidence concerning the usefulness of this
method of solving mult-step problems in Chemistry to achieve a deeper and more meaningful understanding
of the concepts involved.
And fnally, in the sixth paper, Patricia Morales from Pontfcia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) tackles the
problem of problem-solving skills assessment in a Problem Based Learning (PBL) context. For this purpose,
assessment tools based on the Sugrue theoretcal model are proposed and validated for three key topics in
General Chemistry, namely, Thermodynamics, Kinetcs and Chemical equilibrium. One of the most relevant
contributons of this paper consists in providing a valuable methodological basis to monitor students’
achievement in further investgatons concerning PBL implementaton.
We thank Dr. María Martnez (UPC, Barcelona Tech), Editor in chief of this Journal, for giving us the opportunity
to collaborate in this special issue on Chemical Educaton in Engineering. We also appreciate the interest and
efort shown by the authors and the reviewers of papers.
We really hope that you will enjoy reading this selecton of papers where, as indicated in the ttle of the present
issue, authors from three contnents have shown how the process of learning Chemistry for Engineering
students is “a key factor for social and technological development".

Vol. 4(4), 2014, pp 202

 Journal of Technology and Science Educaton – htp://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jotse.48

Citaton: Llorens-Molina, J.A., & Pinto, G. (2014). Chemistry for Engineering students: A key factor for social
and technological development. Journal of Technology and Science Educaton (JOTSE), 4(4), 201-203.
htp://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jotse.140

On-line ISSN: 2013-6374 – Print ISSN: 2014-5349 – DL: B-2000-2012

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Juan Antonio Llorens-Molina
Juan Antonio Llorens-Molina started its professional career as Secondary School teacher in 1978. He received its
PhD in Chemistry in 1987 and he held diferent posts related to in-service teacher educaton for more than ten
years and also worked as a preservice teacher instructor at the University of Valencia (UV). Nowadays, he works
as associate professor in the School of Agricultural Engineering and Environment, at Polytechnic University of
Valencia (UPV). He has been member of diferent editorial boards (Cultura y Educación, Enseñanza de las
Ciencias, JOTSE…) and scientfc societes as RSEQ or ICUC. His research is focused both on Phytochemistry
Resources and Agroforestry Ecology, in the Mediterranean Agroforestal Insttute (UPV), and Chemistry
Educaton. He has published several books as educatonal essays, many textbooks for Secondary School Physic
and Chemistry, and about hundred technical and educatonal papers. Currently, he is involved in the design and
development of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) and other audiovisual resources for online teaching, at
the UPV.

Gabriel Pinto
Gabriel Pinto works as a full professor in Chemical Engineering at Technical University of Madrid (UPM). He
received an MSc degree in Chemistry in 1985 and a PhD in Physical Chemistry in 1990, both from the
Complutense University of Madrid. He has, since 1986, been professor in the E.T.S. de Ingenieros Industriales of
the UPM, where he teaches mainly General and Inorganic Chemistry. His research has concentrated on optcal
and electrical characterizaton of polymers and polymer composites, on the creaton and validaton of
educatonal tools concerning science and everyday life, and on the problems of teaching and learning of science
at diferent educatve levels. He is member of diferent editorial boards (JOTSE, EduQ, ALDEQ…) and holds
membership of various scientfc societes (RSEQ, RSEF, SCQ, ICUC, IGIP, IUPAC…). He has published various
books, such as Química al Alcance de Todos (Pearson, 2006), a few Websites and over 130 technical and
educatonal papers. He has been Vice Dean for Educaton Innovaton during ten years and so has been strongly
involved in educatonal changes in University concerning the so-known Bologna process.

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Vol. 4(4), 2014, pp 203