Content area
The interdisciplinary nature of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) offers the opportunity to implement educational approaches to biotechnology and process engineering issues. The focus should be on the promotion of scientific literacy in contexts relevant to research, industry, and society. This article specifically shows the development of suitable low-level experiments to provide a milestone for the implementation of biotechnological and process engineering issues in STEM education. The experiments show the successful transfer of inquiry-based bioprocess engineering experiments with a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) bioreactor and low-cost sensors. It was possible to achieve comparable trends of process-relevant state variables like mixing time and volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLa) for the DIY bioreactor in comparison to established commercial systems. Furthermore, microalga Microchloropsis gaditana could be successfully cultivated under different cultivation conditions in the DIY system, and the respective growth curves could be observed. The DIY system is well suited for experimental application in schools and provides a scientifically substantiated basis for data interpretation. The scientific outreach approach and cooperation in a multiprofessional team for the transfer of process engineering questions to education can be evaluated as enriching. Experiments involving educational concepts offer a variety of connecting elements in the curriculum and opportunities to foster scientific literacy.
Details
Critical Thinking;
Science Education;
Influence of Technology;
Addition;
Active Learning;
Hands on Science;
Learning Processes;
Expertise;
21st Century Skills;
Science and Society;
Engineering Technology;
Biotechnology;
Concept Teaching;
Student Interests;
Mathematics Activities;
Laboratory Experiments;
Classrooms;
Science Instruction;
Laboratory Equipment;
Science Experiments;
Engineering Education;
College Science;
Inquiry;
National Standards
Students;
Collaboration;
Curricula;
Mathematics education;
STEM education;
Educational technology;
Inquiry method;
Drug resistance;
Technology education;
Research methodology;
Classrooms;
Process engineering;
Schools;
Experiments;
Algae;
Science education;
Biotechnology industry;
Experimental methods;
Learning;
Literacy
; Erdmann, Niklas 1
; Kollmen, Jonas 1
; Otteny, Alena 1 ; Wastian, Katharina 1 ; Wallrath, Simeon 2
; Engl, Alexander 2
; Risch, Björn 2
; Ulber, Roland 1
; Strieth, Dorina 1
1 Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Division of Bioprocess Engineering, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany;
2 Department of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Division of Didactics of Chemistry, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, 76829 Landau, Germany;