Industry Ready Graduates: Scaffolding industrial relevance in pharmaceutical engineering program

Abstract

Xandar Pharmaceuticals (XP) is a benchtop 3D printed pharmaceutical plant using the MOE Teaching Research Fund (MOE-2016-2-TR19) completed in 2019. XP is a dedicated Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) manufacturing plant for the production of guaifenesin via Williamson ether synthesis. Even though it is not possible to synthesize the API using the model, XP is a teaching model that was designed in great details. For example, the plant is scaled to produce 100 kg of Guaifenesin every batch, the sizing of the vessels are calculated to batch size, the plant operation is govern by 100+ Good manufacturing practices (GMP) documents and etc. XP was implemented in SIT’s GMP class in 2019: students like the model, and have expressed desire to use the model as an industrial simulation for other modules in the pharmaceutical engineering (PHE) program.

In this proposal, a plan to scaffold XP into the SIT’s PHE program is presented. XP will be gradually introduce into PHE program by planting “seeds” in one module in every trimester, from Year 1 to Year 3, prior to student’s departure for their Integrated Work Study Program (IWSP). To achieve the objective, XP will be broken down into six sections (in six different modules), where students will only learn chunks (bits) of information at any one time. Many research had shown that learners learn better when bite-size information is presented. By scaffolding industrial relevance over a three year period, students might boost their industry-relevance before leaving for 8 months IWSP in industrial setting.

Assessment will be completed for control (limited XP exposure) and test (full XP access) groups. There are approximately 80 students in each group, differentiated by the year of matriculation: control (AY 2019/20 (Sep 2019)) and test (AY 2020/21(Sep 2020). For each of the six modules, evaluation will be conducted based on student’s performance and assignment feedback. On a higher level, the project team will conduct two surveys for the two groups at the beginning of their first year and pre-IWSP departure. Statistical tests will be conducted to verify if the (1) XP can improve the industrial relevance or student learnings in the respective modules; (2) Scaffolding industrial relevance into PHE program can enhance the retention of information, and helps in producing industrial ready graduates. Qualitative feedback will also be collected through numerous focus group discussions.