Experience gained in teaching in an introductory plastics engineering technology course

Abstract

Teaching an introductory plastics engineering technology course can be very challenging because many students, for whom this may be a required course, have the preconceived notion that they will be bombarded with "chemistry," and not many students like chemistry, particularly, organic chemistry. So, over the years I have learned that it was not wise to start an introductory plastics course with a study of plastic materials and their chemistry. Rather, I would start the course with an overview of the plastics industry and then delve into plastics processing techniques because students seemed to enjoy learning how plastics are made into useful products. Processing techniques that were covered in this course include injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, thermoforming, rotational molding, and compression molding. Right after a mid-semester exam, about nine weeks into the semester, the author would start exploring plastics materials with the students using rudimentary organic chemistry. The course was completed by examining issues dealing with managing plastics wastes and sustainability. In recent years, the author has adopted the flipped classroom approach in delivering the course contents. This paper also examined the impact of this new teaching approach on students' learning outcomes. Assessment of learning outcomes: Students' learning outcomes were assessed with a survey instrument, students' exam performance, and students' course evaluations.