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Over 100 colleges and universities that are members of CACHE were invited to respond to the CACHE survey. This survey was designed to show which computing platforms are used for teaching and research. Responses from 60 colleges and universities in the U.S. were received and tallied.
1. Are your undergraduate students required to take a course in computer programming?
3 of 55, or 5.5% responded no.
52 of 55, or 94.5% responded yes.
Reasons given for why computer courses aren't required is that it "takes too much time and skill are rapidly lost", and that even if such a course is not required, students are strongly encouraged to take a course in computer programming.
2.a. If yes to #1, Does the course cover only programming?
28 of 55, or 50.9% said yes.
27 of 55, or 49.1% said no.
The number of 50-minute meetings per semester of the computer class varied from 10 to 45 meetings, with the most common amount being ***** meetings.
2.b. What languages are taught?
A variety of languages are being taught. The most common language is Fortran 77, with 29 schools teaching this, followed by Fortran 90 and C each being taught at 15 schools. Basic is being taught at 7 schools, followed by C++ and Pascal taught at 4 schools, Maple at 2 schools, and Visual C++, Mathcad, Labview, and PC Software listed as being taught at 1 school.
3. Are undergrads required to write programs in classes other than the computer programming course?
43 of 55, or 78.2% said yes.
12 of 55, or 21.8% said no.
The classes in which undergrads must write computer programs includes Mass Transfer, Material and Energy Balances, Reaction Engineering, Separation Processes, Numerical Methods, Thermodynamics, CHEG Labs, Design Courses, Transport Phenomena, and Process Control. Most people stated that undergrads must write programs, or use software packages in almost all chemical engineering courses.
4. How important is it to teach computers to undergraduates?
33 of 58 or 56.9% said it is becoming less important
17 of 58 or 29.3% said there is no significant change in importance
5 of 58 or 8.6% said it is becoming more important
3 of 58 or 5.2% said it is not important any more to teach computers to undergrads
5. If you could have undergraduates learn one language, what would it be?
The overwhelming favorite was FORTRAN, with 64% of respondents citing it as the one language they would have undergraduates learn. C and C++ were distant seconds, with respectively 8 and 7 proponents. Other languages listed were Basic and Visual Basic. One person said that it was not important which language was learned.
6. What are the most important platforms used to support chemical engineering applications at your institution?
Respondents were asked to rate for the platforms of IBM DOS, IBM Windows 3.x, IBM Windows 95, MacIntosh, UNIX OS, and UNIX with Windows System the frequency of usage at their university. Respondents were asked to select on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being not used at all, 3 being frequent use, and 5 being exclusively used. The 1's and 2's are included on the Not Used chart, while the 3's, 4's, and 5's are included on the frequent use chart. On the pie charts, the category of IBM includes IBM Dos, Win95, and Windows 3.x, and UNIX includes UNIX OS, and UNIX with Windows System.
Responses show that most universities utilize IBM PCs or compatibles for instruction and research. The preferred platform for instruction on the IBMs is Windows 3.x, with 48 of 52 respondents rating Windows 3.x as a 3 or higher. The least preferable instructional platform is the MacIntosh, with 36 of 47 respondents giving it a rating of 2 or lower.
7. Which computer applications are utilized the most?
Many different programs were mentioned. The most popular programs included Matlab, Aspen, Polymath, Maple and Picles. CACHE products that are utilized at universities included Polymath, Picles, Chem Sep, Ross Taylor's Modules, Folger's Reaction Engineering Modules, and Octave.
Please send comments, suggestions, and corrections to J. Sandy.
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