Assesment of Textbook-free Courses in the Biochemical Engineering Field as Vehicles for Lifelong Learning

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to investigate the effect of using alternative ways to deliver content in place of textbooks on the ability of the students to become lifelong learners. The results of this study will be used to design, in a follow up project, a route map for those who desire replacing the textbook by alternative materials. The author has been teaching a bioseparations course without a textbook for over ten years. The author's motivation for not using a textbook in bioseparations (and currently also in a bioreactors class) is that textbooks in biochemical engineering are of little use because of the dynamics of the field. For example, the hybridoma technique to produce monoclonal antibodies was developed 40 years ago and today the production of monoclonal antibodies is the most rapidly growing pharmaceutical sector. Moreover, monoclonal antibodies or antibodies fragment are produced today mostly using disposable technology, non-existent 20 years ago. There are no indications, in the students' comments, that the lack of a textbook is a major hurdle in this bioseparations class. There were, however, some indications that some students feel "fragile" without a textbook. The effect of the absence of a textbook on lifelong learning and the inclusion of specific activities aimed at facilitating lifelong learning have not been explored. This is addressed in this paper. Short term results were obtained by comparing the results of a survey administered to students who took the sequence bioseparations/bioseparations lab/bioreactors. Students' opinions about (1) the effect of the absence of a textbook on their development as lifelong learners and (2) the significance of the initiatives introduced in the classes as lifelong learning incentives were requested as part of the end of the semester teaching effectiveness survey.

Department(s)

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-151081256-7

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2024 AIChE, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2014

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