Page 19 - Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering Ebook

xx Preface

definition and alternative pathways to solutions. The algorithms presented in
the text for reactor design provide a framework through which one can develop
confidence through reasoning rather than memorization.
To give a reference point as to the level of understanding required in the profes-
sion, a number of reaction engineering problems from the Califarnia Board of Regis-
tration for Civil and Professional Engineers-Chemical Engineering Examinations
(PECEE) are included. vpically, each problem should require approximately one-half
hour to solve. Hints on how to work the California exam problems can be found in the
Summary Notes and in the Thoughts on Problem Solving on the CD-ROM.
The second and third goals of this book are to increase the student’s critical
thinking skills and creative thinking skills by presenting heuristics and problems
that encourage the student to practice these skills.
8.2. To Develop Critical Thinking Skills

Due to the rapid addition of new information and the advancement of science and
technology that occur almost daily, an engineer must constantly expand his or her horizons
beyond simply gathering infonnation and relying on the basic engineering principles.
Simply put, good A number of homework problems have been included that are designed to
thinkers are good enhance critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is the process we use to reflect
questioners and vice on, access and justify our own assumptions as well as others’ ideas, work and
actions. Socratic questioning is at the heart of critical thinking and a number of
versa. homework problems draw from R. W. Paul’s six types of Socratic questions: ’

(1) Questions for clarijcation: Why do you say that? How does this
relate to our discussion?
(2) Questions that probe assumptions: What could we assume instead?
How can you verify or disprove that assumption?
(3) Questions that probe reasons and evidence: What would be an example?
(4) Questions about viewpoints and perspectives: What would be an alternative?
(5) Questions that probe implications and consequences: What generali-
zations can you make? What are the consequences of that assumption?
(6) Questions about the question: What was the point of this question?
Why do you think I asked this question?
Good thinkers are always asking What does this mean?, What is the nature of
this?, Is there another way to look at it?, Why is this happening?, What is the evi-
dence for this?, and How can I be sure?
Practice in critical thinking can be achieved by assigning additional parts to
the problems at the end of each chapter that utilize R. W. Paul’s approach. Most
of these problems have more than one part to them. The instructor may wish to
assign all or some of the parts. In addition, the instructor could add the following
parts to any of the problems:
0 Describe how you went about solving this problem.
0 How reasonable is each assumption you made in solving this problem?

1 Paul, R. W., Critical Thinking (Published by the Foundation for Critical Thinking,
Santa Rosa, CA, 1992).