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R. W. HARTEL, Dept. of Food Science, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, 1605 Linden Dr., A-13 Babcock Hall, Madison, WI 53706-1519 Why do I need to take this class? I’m not going to be an engineer. Anyone who has taught food engineering to food science students has had to answer this question. Obviously we instructors think it’s important for them to understand engineering principles, but what do they really need to know and how best can we get them to learn these principles? The answer depends on the student. Students who get a BS degree and do quality control or technical sales might need different understanding than those who go on for a PhD and do food research. One might need only the general ideas behind the engineering principles, whereas the other might be required to write and solve appropriate equations for specific circumstances. The common denominator is that all of our students need to have an understanding of the general principles of engineering, namely, energy and mass balances, heat, mass and momentum transfer. The level of understanding determines how we write our learning outcomes and with what focus. If all of our students end their formal education with the BS degree, we might choose to focus on the very applied aspects. If all of our students go on to be research food scientists, we might expect them to be able to derive equations. For most programs, our goals must lie somewhere between. Probably the most important role of the instructor is to motivate food science students to learn the engineering principles. We need to relate the principles to pertinent applications so that the students understand why they need to learn the material, regardless of what job they wind up doing. The adage that “we don’t learn anything until we’re ready to” applies here. It’s our job as instructors to get them ready to learn through proper motivation.
Session 105, Multiple perspectives on food engineering education
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