Education for Chemical Engineers 40 (2022) 45–55

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Education for Chemical Engineers

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ece

Empathy, persuasiveness and knowledge promote innovative engineering

and entrepreneurial skills
David Fernandez Rivas a, *, Sebastian Husein b
a
Mesoscale Chemical Systems, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands
b
Strategic Business Development, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: An increasing number of experts considers that durable skills are needed to prepare the professionals that will
Entrepreneurship tackle the challenges of the 21st century. However, a clear overview of which skills are the most relevant for
Innovation specific learning outcomes has not been reached. In this work, we present a simplified conceptual framework for
Education
the training of engineers to be more innovative and entrepreneurial. We introduce three core components or
Research
Spin-off
ingredients: knowledge, persuasiveness and empathy. These ingredients can be used to initiate a necessary shift
International transfer of knowledge in how students are educated in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. A Challenge Based
Learning context is proposed for developing persuasiveness and empathy as durable skills. We also present a six-
step procedure as a guideline to turn the knowledge, persuasiveness, and empathy framework into actionable
items. This framework enriches the toolbox of durable skills that needs to be taught during the educational
process, and in the professional practice of (chemical) engineers. We propose to explicitly teach the importance
of durable people-oriented skills in combination with technical courses, ideally spreading the focus over the
whole curricula.

undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Both trends emerge from the

urgent challenges faced to address complex and global sustainability
problems of today, Jamieson et al. (2021).
Nomenclature However, the means to teach innovation, entrepreneurial aspects
and durable skills are often spread over different and specialised fields.
KPE knowledge, persuasiveness, and empathy Consequently, it often takes a long time for the education professionals
CBL challenge based learning to apply them in the current teaching and training curricula. Therefore,
STEM science, technology, engineering, and mathematics we see great value in having a simple, universal framework that can be
understood by the students, professionals and the teachers who face
increased demand for fast changing requirements.
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has affected the way we teach, in
1. Introduction particular the practical work in labs and student-group activities, but
also industry-linked activities, such as visits to plants Kavanagh (2021).
Engineers need a balanced set of skills, from technical to the so-called Fortunately, there was already an ongoing trend that led to the avail­
‘soft’ or people-related ones, for interdisciplinary teamwork, (Balles­ ability of mature methods to teach with the support of online tools, such
teros et al., 2021; Backlund and Sjunnesson, 2012). These interpersonal as recorded lectures, interactive multimedia, and remote video confer­
skills have more recently been termed ‘durable skills’, since they should ences prevented a total halt of educational efforts worldwide. But these
last a lifetime (Kamp, 2019,2020). Other transferrable skills such as can only take us so far. How could we fill the gap between the con­
critical mindset, interdisciplinary collaboration, communication, and ventional engineering education, —which is now severely affected by
information literacy are listed among the “21st Century Skills” given by isolated and passive teaching-learning process imposed during pan­
Ananiadou and Claro (2009). Moreover, there is growing demand for demics—, and a more durable and meaningful personal and pro­
professionals with entrepreneurial and innovative thinking at the fessional development journey?

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: d.fernandezrivas@utwente.nl (D. Fernandez Rivas).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ece.2022.05.002
Received 19 December 2021; Received in revised form 23 March 2022; Accepted 24 May 2022
Available online 9 June 2022
1749-7728/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
D. Fernandez Rivas and S. Husein Education for Chemical Engineers 40 (2022) 45–55

research. To face these challenges, engineers will require technical and

networking competences in order to innovate (Garcia-Martinez, 2021;
from Deloitte, 2017).
Innovation can be viewed as the ability to generate new
methods, ideas, products, or technologies. The ability of some in­
dividuals to usefully innovate is evident in many cases, but instructors,
students, business people and policy makers have wondered for years:
How can innovation be taught? Adair (2007). Or perhaps a simpler
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of Knowledge, Persuasiveness, and Empathy.
starting point: How can innovative capacity or ability be quantified?
The importance of each ingredient runs across all fields (in plane - z axis) of
Taques et al. (2021).
activities, particularly for innovation. The order of the fields is purely arbitrary
Entrepreneurial activity has been linked to boosts in economic
in this figure, but in some cases the legal aspects need to be covered before any
valorization action is taken. growth; specifically, a positive effect on both short-term and long-term
employment Fritsch (2008). In an effort to increase productivity and
overall quality-of-life for its citizens, many educational programs and
We propose to fill the educational gap by focusing on three in­
governmental policies have focused on increasing literacy levels and the
gredients, Knowledge, Persuasiveness, and Empathy (KPE), where the
amount of concepts or disciplines taught at each level to increase
stress is on developing human aspects and skills that are more durable
innovation, (lit, 2022; Oec, 2016).
than any single technological skill. Developing these skills properly do
Olugbola (2017) states that entrepreneurs can be trained by helping
not depend strongly on the access to specific equipment, or the prox­
with opportunity identification, motivation, resources and ability, as the
imity to any plant or industrial scenario. They can be nurtured indi­
components of start-up process of new ventures. Welsh et al. (2016)
vidually or in groups, with or without the support from teachers or
emphasizes that students need to be aware that entrepreneurship is a
coaches, fulfilling demands for life-long and self-education beyond the
serendipitous journey or sequence of occasions, as opposed to an
university walls.
outcome. All this is excellent work in defining types of knowledge that
Fig. 1 provides a visualization of the interaction of the ingredients in
engineers and innovators require. But it still does not give clear guidance
the KPE framework. In the z-axis (in plane), different disciplines or fields
about how knowledge is transformed into innovative practices and
can be assigned. No borders are defined since the fields of engineering
outcomes.
and innovation deal with multidisciplinary problems.
Additionally, the ability of engineers and innovators to adapt, or of a
In the following sections, we will present concepts we have distilled
startup to be agile while navigating a market landscape, is also often
into the KPE framework from a combination of literature research and
discussed in the context of creating successful startups Müller and
our professional experience. To make the concepts of the KPE frame­
Thoring (2012). To pivot successfully, Eesley and Wu (2019) demon­
work more tangible to students, we propose an experiential approach
strated the importance of having a mentor who provides access to a
and a six-step guide for the students in Challenge Based Learning set­
structurally diverse social network. The experiential and mentoring el­
tings. The Annexes provide useful information for the teachers and ex­
ements tie in with the ability to develop relationships, which is partially
perts interested in seeing how we are implementing our ideas in the
built upon KPE. We expand further in the next section.
classroom. This framework can be used by problem-solvers of any
background to innovate in a clear, step-by-step manner, but the exam­
2.1. Who is entrepreneur?
ples we provide come from the ac Chemical Engineering field.
We begin with why innovation and entrepreneurship needs to be
For the purpose of examining the impact of knowledge, persuasiveness,
taught through the lens of KPE and our definitions of concepts used in
and empathy, we define entrepreneurs as risk takers, and accept the
this work.
basic premises of the risk-bearing theory of profit laid out by Hawley
(1907) and others noted in the summary of Gedeon (2014). However, we
2. The need for teaching innovation and entrepreneurship
define the risks taken to include the time of the individual in addition to
the resources expended in their attempt to change a product, method,
The necessity to innovate permeates most sectors of human activity,
practice, or way of thinking.
including education. This need arises from the rapid globalization of
Generally, this risk is leveraged to “change the yield of resources”, as
nearly all human activities in this past century, where we are arguably
stated by Say (1816) where this yield may return a profit for the
reaching resource limitations in numerous sectors of our economies, and
risk-taker, although there are many other non-profit-oriented goals an
must consider continued impacts on the environment and human health.
entrepreneur may hold. Specifically, an entrepreneur is taking a chance
To maintain our standards of living and optimistic expectations of the
or risk in between people or processes—this is according to Knight
future, we must undergo a paradigm shift in how we can societally
(1921) and Drucker (1998), whose views are linked to Schumpeter’s,
embed principles of sustainability, and as a crucial component of that,
where entrepreneurs are individuals who “exploit market opportunities”
how we prepare and equip future generations, (Tromp et al., 2011;
and “whose function it is to carry out new combinations” Schumpeter
Thomsen, 2013; Aagaard, 2019; Méndez-Picazo et al., 2020; Jamieson
(2013).
et al., 2021).
There are many other ways to define what an entrepreneur is or what
The chemical industry, as many other fields, is passing through
they do, (Bylund, 2020; Gedeon, 2010; Thomas and Mueller, 2000) since
transition challenges, such as global mergers, markets volatility, stricter
categorization can come from sociocultural and economic factors, such
regulations, and supply chains entwined at a global scale. Adapting
as social entrepreneurs, (Goduscheit et al., 2021; Méndez-Picazo et al.,
through innovations has been possible with a certain level of success in
2020), or the Maker Movement, Giusti et al. (2020). Malerba and
the business world. However, the leaders of the upcoming decades face a
McKelvey (2020) state that entrepreneurs turn technology and ideas into
new industry with digitalized processes, plants, and distributions
innovations in the market, creating opportunities, by both driving and
channels, among other unseen risks, but also opportunities. Recent re­
adapting to change in the external environment.
ports highlight chances in bundling data and artificial intelligence, with
robotics to improve safety, reproducibility, and efficiency. Moreover,
2.2. Defining knowledge, K
there is growing evidence about how different fields such as catalysts,
new drugs discovery, advanced materials, to name a few, have been
For this article, Knowledge is information connected to a specific
reshaped by machine learning and artificial intelligence in chemistry
problem, and aligned towards a possible solution. It may state a

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D. Fernandez Rivas and S. Husein Education for Chemical Engineers 40 (2022) 45–55

what, why, when, and/or how of something related to the problem, profits expected from the innovation will be sufficient to do this and
and also who and where. leave a net profit for him.
We make a distinction between information and knowledge. Among This ability is typically acquired through interaction with people,
several attempts to differentiate between them, we find the pyramidal and interacting with passive information—you must acquire the infor­
representation of the relationship between data, information, knowl­ mation, process it, act upon it, then reflect and adjust future actions
edge, and wisdom Wikipedia (2022). Information is generally more according to what did or did not work.
easily acquired than knowledge. A non-exhaustive list of examples in­ We provide examples of questions and answers about how we are
cludes information gathering by reading material from a library or from teaching this concept in a MSc course at the University of Twente in
internet searches, asking an expert, or from personal experiences. Annex 1c 2, and expand in Section 3.1.
For the information to become knowledge that relates to a problem,
an individual must apply cognitive processing, Krch (2011). Knowledge 2.4. Defining empathy, E
is created as a bundle of heterogeneous but complimentary resources
with three core types: explicit (documented information), implicit We define empathy as the ability to understand or accurately
(applied information), and tacit (understood information). This inter­ predict the perspectives of others. From that understanding, we can
esting topic is still debated and redefined Bolade (2021). identify their needs and desires, then decide to act on them . We could
In all cases, different types of information allows building knowledge label it as actionable empathy. Among the different forms of empathy,
about almost anything. With the right discipline and quality assurance in (Hodges et al., 2007; Kopajtic, 2020), we have:
the process of acquiring knowledge, this is a way with which people can
become experts in one field. • Cognitive empathy: how well an individual can perceive and un­
Another significant element is related to practicing expert-like de­ derstand the emotions of another.
cision making, to develop a mental framework in the discipline of • Affective empathy: expressing an understanding of how and why the
choice. These are summarised in the Pillars of Deliberate Practice, other person feels in a certain way.
(Ericsson et al., 1993; Melrose, 2022) or as put by Ericsson and Pool • Emotional empathy: According to Hodges and Myers, it consists of
(2016): expertise can be learned with challenging but doable tasks, three components. “The first is feeling the same emotion as another
practicing elements of expertise with feedback and reflection slides. person…The second component, personal distress, refers to one’s
Thus, instructors should develop activities aimed at demanding sub­ own feelings of distress in response to perceiving another’s plight…
stantial focus and effort from the students, instead of passive listening to The third emotional component, feeling compassion for another
a lecture or performing easy tasks Wieman (2012). These steps are person, is the one most frequently associated with the study of
necessary to synthesize or develop knowledge, transfer it to a different empathy in psychology".
context, or enrich it with tacit knowledge in order to address a problem • Behavioral empathy: a demonstration of active listening, with
or advance a field. expressing a desire to understand more about the others’ feelings,
We provide a question and answer examples about how we are experiences, or reactions, Clark et al. (2019).
teaching this concept in a MSc course at the University of Twente in • Contagion empathy: characterised by relative passivity to the emo­
Annex 1c 1. tions of others
• Projection empathy: characterised by active engagement with the
2.3. Defining persuasiveness, P emotions of another

Throughout this article, Persuasiveness is used in the context of Projection empathy is similar to our Actionable empathy, because it
convincing others that a problem one is trying to solve is impor­ is capable of producing greater understanding about other people or
tant, or that a given solution is the right approach to solve it. impact of the problem. Based on a recent book review (Kopajtic, 2020;
In Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Fleischacker, 2019), we interpret that a combination of projection and
curricula, there is often an emphasis on mastering technical ability, with contagion is desirable for STEM students. Contagion empathy provides
an assumption that personal and interpersonal skills such as communi­ raw materials needed in imaginative and projective exercises and
cation, team work, time management, emotional intelligence, decision- compensate the difficulty to have direct access to the emotions of others.
making, and the like will develop as learners complete curriculum re­ STEM professionals who can empathise or have the ability to place
quirements. As mentioned in the Introduction, ‘soft skills’ may better be themselves into an imaginary situation and somehow feel those emo­
labeled as durable skills (Kamp, 2019,2020), since they will last a life­ tions, or at least imagine them, should be able to better understand the
time, as opposed to some areas of technical knowledge learned during context of a problem. Pursuing an empathic approach can help to
degree courses which can often have a short shelf-life as technologies develop the ability of the engineer to formulate each problem succinctly
rapidly advance. and effectively, assisting in understanding the ‘why’ of the need to solve
We generalize our definition of Persuasiveness to the ability to the problem. We also believe we should be able to expand our Empathy
transfer understanding of a showcased perspective or idea, resulting in beyond other fellow humans – currently living and future generations –
agreement between the persuader and persuadee. This is a key ability for and consider also living organisms.
developing relationships between peoples, of relevance for engineers Definitions of sympathy occasionally overlap with those of
and innovators. emotional empathy. For our purposes however, we define sympathy as:
Most societally-relevant problems tend to be complex, and demand a temporary, emotional response coupled with an expression of that
multidisciplinary teams to co-create knowledge, Ruoslahti (2020). This emotion toward the other individual, e.g., pitying the individual and
directly pertains to persuasiveness. For example, when requesting funds offering condolences. With sympathy, the emotion felt and expressed do
for a research idea, persuading investors or subsidy committees. To do so not necessarily reflect the emotional state of the person to whom the
effectively, enlisting the assistance of experts or colleagues to sharpen reaction is occurring.
your skills at persuading by reviewing your proposal, developing a We provide examples of student’s online discussions, assignments
perfect pitch, and recruiting team members. and answers provided by the students as we teach this concept in a MSc
Schumpeter (1982) said that “The innovator-entrepreneur must course at the University of Twente in Annex 1 a, b, and Annex 2.
convince the capitalist that the higher revenues and/or lower costs
stemming from his innovation will enable him to pay both principal and
interest on the loan. The innovator must convince himself that the

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3. The need for teaching durable skills in engineering • Direct instruction on KPE
• Implementing KPE in the whole curriculum e.g. in a learning line of
It is possible that engineers acquire durable skills without formal academic skills
training, or have them intrinsically due to personality and unique ex­
periences. In contrast with other curricula, engineering students may Whatever the chosen activities, we think that it is beneficial for the
require wide but not so deep knowledge on a specific discipline, as long teaching team to be implicit and explicit when working with KPE, at the
as they are willing to learn in the process or incorporate other team individual and group levels. Our reasoning is rooted in the experiences
members that do possess it. The education of Chemical Engineers is we have as teachers, the advice from educational experts and literature
arguably one of the most general activities, and we strongly believe we consulted regarding this aspect Walther et al. (2020).
there is still space for durable skills in the context of KPE in the curricula
Fernandez Rivas (2022). 3.1. Teaching persuasiveness
STEM careers are traditionally focused on providing as much
knowledge as possible, typically oriented to specific skills such as solv­ The challenge of teaching persuasiveness as a “durable skill” in­
ing differential equations, designing, or computer modelling, to name a creases with the degree of “softness”. Traditionally, gained knowledge
few. What to do with all that knowledge and how to communicate it to and skills can be demonstrated via exams or tests, e.g., successfully
the stakeholders is a challenge that is often underestimated. Moreover, completing a simulation training with a software, the student is able to
clear indications or practical guides to transfer inventions from the discuss or write about a theoretical or abstract concept. Business schools
university environment to the market are rarely given, Iannuzzi (2017). are probably the place most people would look when interested in
We believe that clarifying the impact of engineering work and its rele­ gaining decision-making skills, time management, etc. We use this
vance to society can be reached by teaching empathy among other du­ simple example for students: Knowledge taken from a book; Persua­
rable skills. siveness skills gained through experiential practices with cases from real
An empathy-centered program would emphasize making real-world life in the university-academic settings; Empathy acquired during an
impact. Kamp (2020) recently argued that human literacy is about internship or bachelor assignment inserted in a company. For other
empathy, communication, and the ability to connect people by putting examples on how we have been teaching about KPE, please see Annex 1.
relationships at the heart of the work. These qualities are gaining a The Persuasiveness assignment in Annex 1c has undergone testing
critical role in the STEM field, with the term “STEMpathy” being from a pedagogical perspective through discussions in class and with
popularized by Friedman (2017). colleagues, see Annex 2. Outcomes from this lead us to conclude the
Friedman argues that technological-and-knowledge-based capacity simplest way to teach persuasiveness is to provide cases, both, imaginary
in STEM must be coupled with empathy for other human beings sin­ and real, in line with CBL, see Section 4.2.
ce,“Nobody cares what you know, because the Google machine knows As stated in the Syllabus of the course being taught at the University
everything”; instead, Friedman stresses that the future is about how we of Twente, see Annex 1a, we follow a process that simulates a real-life
apply what we know. In the view of Kamp (2020), there will be more scenario that can be found in academic settings or the business world.
emphasis on engineering as a social activity and empathy with cus­ We include three basic elements:
tomers and colleagues, together with concepts of autonomy, agency,
self-efficacy and emotional intelligence to function in the human milieu. 1. In-depth knowledge of an emerging field of research and current
In the rare instances where durable skills are explicitly taught, some industrial relevance
may instruct directly about Persuasiveness. This is a skill typically Gaining information that should become knowledge valid for the
associated with what may be taught at business schools, related to final test or team-work, and there is a mix of individual and work in
company creation, market forces, communication and negotiations, teams. We use Process Intensification as innovation template (Fer­
Feder (2021). Kamp (2016) and Felder (2018) posit that to learn in a nandez Rivas et al., 2020; Rivas et al., 2020).
meaningful manner, students must be actively engaged in the learning 2. Work in teams
process. Kamp (2016) points out that it is not only a matter of engage­ The teams are presented then with an open problem provided from
ment, but also of serious reflection on what the students have learned real-life , taken from the instructors’ industrial or academic network.
and experienced. 3. Appropriate professionalisation component.
In this line, professional education experts are increasingly showing After completing steps one and two, the students go out on their
the importance of empathy. There have been attempts to measure own to complement or expand their knowledge and propose a so­
empathy from instructors for their students, using open-ended responses lution. The solution is then written in a report, and later discussed in
as stimulated experimental situations (Tettegah and Anderson, 2007; a presentation in front of the “case owners", as if trying to convince
Arghode et al., 2013). Similarly, a point has been made in designing them, or persuade them that their solution makes sense.
learning activities to support the skills of professional practice and social
responsibility Jamieson et al. (2021). These activities should include Once students have been provided the KPE framework that guides
contextual and situational elements that provide students with experi­ their thinking and approach, there are many paths they can take to
ence and the chance to apply specialised knowledge. practically apply it. In all cases, however, decisions will have to be
Performing social and analytic cognitive tasks simultaneously has made. Decision-making is a complex process, and often the interaction
been found to be difficult: “brains cannot analyze and empathize at the or comparison of factors influencing the decision is unclear. This is
same time” Walther et al. (2020). The authors recognised that Empathy certainly the case in CBL, where clearly-defined impact on outcomes
is increasingly acknowledged as important and implicitly present in both from one factor versus another are often difficult to establish.
education and industry. However, practicing empathy seems to generate To help students increase their Persuasiveness skills and familiarise
some tensions in both domains. Cech (2014) identified a “culture of with decision making exercises, we are teaching an in-house developed
disengagement” in engineering education, seemingly related to attempts concept in MSc courses at the University of Twente, see Annex 3. The
of removing politics, or any “non-technical” concerns, e.g., public wel­ Intensification Factor (IF) method, (Rivas et al., 2018; Rivas and Cintas,
fare. These ideas will be expanded in the next section. 2022) is a tool to provide arguments in persuading other stakeholders
There are a few ways that teachers can transfer durable skills: . and consider other “people-oriented factors”. In this context, the stu­
dents can compare and demonstrate superiority of ideas.
• Demonstrating through their own behaviour as a role model for the Moreover, such a simple method can be seen as a tool for imple­
students menting personalised feedback . For example, when the result of an IF

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exercise calculated by the student differs from the answer expected by frame ‘their orientations toward others and their self-understanding as
the instructor, the student can expose the reasonings in a transparent engineers’. The development of empathy is proposed to be an integral
way. Tools like these can act as a ‘stage-gate’ in the student under­ core of being an engineer in the 21st century, together with ethics,
standing Beneroso and Robinson (2021). communication and stakeholder interaction. Empathy enables students
Our teaching assistants and teachers regularly meet with the group of to gain understanding of their own interaction with others and
students and show during lectures or individual team-meetings, how to inter-personal relationships, clarifying their place as an individual and
approach problems with analogies to the student’s project. professional in the world.
Three main aspects are emphasized: Arguably, students need to learn to make highly-educated guesses in
the face of uncertainty. To train under uncertain conditions, engineering
1. Simplicity of the solution and how well it is explained educators have implemented learning from social work to inform the
Peer-review round is a common method to assess simplicity and education of empathic engineers, that led to a teachable model of
explanation clarity; see Annex 1a. Peer-led assessment works empathy in engineering with ‘learnable skills, a practice orientation, and
particularly well in this method, as the students are given similar a professional way of being.’ Walther et al. (2017). This conceptual
contexts and frameworks, but different challenges to work on. This model tries to mitigate potential consequences correlated to the dete­
approach of project-led education has been identified as an efficient riorating concern of engineering students for public welfare along their
active learning method, and instrumental to learning to “under­ education (Cech, 2014).
stand” Alink and van den Berg (2013). Having different projects with In the context of engineering projects, empathy can be utilized :
the same instructions and different problem (chosen by the students)
and the same starting point (knowledge acquisition), students can 1. To identify a problem affecting others that represents an opportunity
give feedback to polish their idea. For some examples, see Annex 1 a) for solution creation,
Peer-reviewed ‘Empathy assignments’, b) ‘Empathy assignments’. the engineer must additionally understand what has been done
2. Solution validation by stakeholders before, why the current method or product is lacking for those
It can be in the form of an interview, or statements from a reliable currently using it, and create in a way to address that lack. The
source, such as an interview or scientific publication. The case owner development of this understanding typically requires interaction
can also help assessing the findings. with other people. When humans interact, there are several emotions
3. Feasibility of the proposed action plan that leads to the execution of or transactional activities that are relevant in most professional
the problem’s solution. fields.
This is definitely the hardest, because our courses are not suffi­ 2. To create a compelling case, either to convince others of the
ciently long to allow for executing their proposed solution and importance of a problem or the impact of a potential solution.
validate if it is feasible. The preparation to face milestones or ex­
pectations not reached is another explicit focus of Challenge Based Professionals interfacing with other team members, customers, or
Learning (CBL), a source of frustration for many students. patients, must connect to their experiences for effective communication.
However, there are boundaries for this type of connection that impact
3.2. Teaching empathy the solution the professional can provide. For example, healthcare
professionals are trained to distinguish between sympathy and empathy,
To succeed in having the much needed paradigm shift towards sus­ and taught to be empathetic and not sympathetic, as sympathy will
tainability mentioned in the Introduction, we need to equip future hinder appropriate diagnosis.
generations of engineers to master an empathic approach to work. This We reason that sympathy is not appropriate for a professional
has been identified as a vital aspect, not only for human-human in­ working as an innovator either, as it is brief in nature and does not
teractions, e.g. health professionals, (Pedersen, 2010; Jeffrey and necessarily provide an accurate picture of how a problem impacts peo­
Downie, 2016), but for training machines to interact with humans, ple. To succeed in valorising an innovative idea, cognitive empathy
(Jeffrey, 2018; Liu and Sundar, 2018). The challenges and controversies (defined above) may not be sufficient either, since the detached tone
of teaching empathy have been discussed in ethics, social science, his­ associated with it does not help in the important action of Persuasion.
tory, medical and legal training, (Gribble and Oliver, 1973; Jeffrey and
Downie, 2016; Westaby and Jones, 2018). Attempts to conceptually and 3.3. When to teach P and E
empirically distinguish among various types of emotional responses and
measure its relation to empathy have been done through physiological, Our KPE framework enriches the small number of conceptual models
facial indexes, and self-report indexes, (Mehrabian and Epstein, 1972; and empirical bases that permits integrating empathy into the discussion
Eisenberg and Fabes, 1990). In the case of humans, it seems that it can be and practices of engineering education (Strobel et al., 2013). A gradual
developed as an emotional intelligence through receiving examples and shift towards teaching durable skills along the curricula can be made
providing role models. See Annexes 1a, 1b and 2, for examples used in using existing courses or specific moments where students can be trained
our teaching and testimonials. in such situational or context-related role plays. In some countries,
In another professional field, design thinkers learn to observe, capstone programs/projects can be an ideal moment to let students
interview, and develop empathetic insights with the aim to find human- interact with other students or real stakeholders of a given problem.
centered ways of solving problems, Carroll (2015). When working with Student teams develop novel engineering project ideas, which in some
other people, Backlund and Sjunnesson (2012) they stated “you know cases can be sold or developed with support from stakeholders. These
what they feel, you feel what they think. That is empathy, the first half of projects can be executed over a semester or over an academic year,
cooperation. The second half is the ability to reconsider your own which allows for a true training in professional aspects and maturing
thinking: self-criticism.” These abilities, to ‘feel’ and ‘rethink your own ideas and internalising what an ‘engineer can do’. This maturing process
standpoint’, are needed for effective cooperation, and is a human ability. is accompanied by reassessments and alterations to the initial project
Recent studies state that experiencing empathy in an engineering ideas.
context, followed by reflecting on such experiences allowed for students The role of empathy in engineering education has been demonstrated
to gain awareness with fundamental aspects regarding their professional to make the value orientations of students and their relationships toward
formation (Walther et al., 2020). The authors found that when students others pedagogically accessible, Walther et al. (2020). The authors
engage in empathy activities they have experiences that teach them to highlight that the student’s self-understanding as engineers can provide
appreciate the significance of both ‘skills and values orientations’ and to new avenues “for research and education to engage less tangible facets

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of engineering formation.” The results were drawn from reflections recommendations from various organizations and initiatives, of which
written during empathy modules in an Engineering and Society course. we highlight:
The students participated in role-play situations, e.g., a student was an
engineer addressing the concerns of a single father facing an increase in • Sustainability: Design for reuse, Conduct full life-cycle analysis, Use
utility expenses as part of remediation efforts around the Flint water catalysts to improve efficiency, Reduce use of solvents.
crisis. We will continue updating our activities, particularly student • Innovation: Set strategic goals and clear priorities, promote Entre-
reflections, and identify which of them lead to a better learning process. and intrapreneurship, promote sharing of knowledge, Make use of
open innovation and Empower your team.
4. The KPE framework and redefining the engineer • Diversity: Lead by example, Support marginalised scientists/em­
ployees, Be aware of unconscious bias, Recognise those with less
Based on traditional education practices, a common starting point visibility
when engaging in problem-solving is knowledge. However, as Perez-­ • Education: Teach in context, Adopt systems thinking, Integrate SDGs
Breva (2016) says, it is not necessary to be an expert at the problem you in the curriculum, Promote question-driven education, Promote
are trying to solve from the beginning—rather, you learn in the process student-centred learning, Educate for complexity and uncertainty.
and you therefore can start with just a piece of knowledge. Furthermore,
the three ingredients of Knowledge, Persuasiveness, and Empathy are These recommendations should assist in solving the interconnected
not linear or static concepts; they are entwined, see Fig. 1. For example, challenges we are facing. However, a more exact or universal definition
the ability to persuade is often predicated on connecting with those of what an Engineer is elusive, because each country or discipline has its
being persuaded; namely, empathising with them. And as one empa­ own take on the matter.
thizes, one may gain more knowledge first-hand about the problem
faced. This can then become an iterative process. 4.1.1. KPE-engineering
These are not the only ingredients necessary to successfully educate The following is an example for the students to see the alignment
learners to become innovators. For example, the ability to develop (so­ between a hypothetical situation, the KPE and the Engineer definition.
cial) relationships is often key for innovators and entrepreneurs. This
ability is reliant on inspiring trust, being sociable, and may sometimes 1. K: You came up with a (brilliant, ingenious) idea or solution for a
require humility. However, one can readily link these characteristics to problem.
knowledge, persuasiveness, and empathy, which at the least are used to 2. P: You have the opportunity to pitch your plan or idea at a Dragons’
enhance the ability of developing relationships. Den.
3. E: You prepare for when you pitch in way you could persuade a
4.1. An engineer is … scientist or a commercial/investor expert. You would need to
anticipate different scenarios, make sure you connect with ongoing
If we accept the need to train students to face future challenges, we Social, Technological and Scientific developments, and bring it all
propose updating the definition of what an Engineer is (Fig. 2). together.
There are plenty of examples of what engineers are capable of, and
there is abundant literature on skills that engineers need. Engineers are Right after, we show Fig. 2 and explain the following:
expected to apply scientific knowledge to solve technical and techno­
logical problems underpinned by creativity and practice. Interestingly, • Connector: Empathy allows the engineer to identify the needs of a
engineers are often seen as good in understanding policy and organ­ stakeholder or a section of society, and in that way he should be able
isational aspects related to technology Fernandez Rivas (2022). to connect technical advances to useful applications to solve the
Other experts have already indicated that Chemical Engineering is in stakeholder’s. We use several examples to clarify the concept of
need of a more entrepreneurial or risk-taking attitude, and the impor­ stakeholder and the importance of aligning interests and manage
tance of research commercialization (Martinez, 2022; Garcia-Martinez, expectations. “Academia is often focused on pushing the boundaries
2021). Empathy has been highlighted for the social, cultural, and life forward through proof-of-concept demonstrations, while corporates
cycle impacts of the solutions proposed by engineers. There are three may be looking for something incremental that can align to existing
frameworks for the design of engineering program learning activities offerings, mature development processes or sales motions. And in
and experiences, aimed at achieving attributes in line with the emerging between are start-ups coming from universities that are in the pro­
sustainability culture: (1) the CEAB Graduate Attribute framework cess of establishing product-market fit.” Jambunathan (2022).
(Resources, 2022), (2) the United Nations (UN) Sustainable develop­ • Ingenious: The ingenuity, which corresponds to the quality of being
ment framework (UN Sustainable Development Summit, 2022), and (3) clever, original, and inventive, can be related to naive approaches
the Risk Based Process Safety (RBPS) management framework (AIChE which can help finding information and transforming it into
CCPS, 2022). knowledge. This knowledge can be used to find solutions where a
In this line, a roadmap for the advancement of chemistry: Sustain­ serious or established approaches might not work. One example we
ability, Innovation, Diversity and Education (SIDE) summarises teach our students is related to “Defamiliarization”, in which usual
things are framed in a different way (Epstein, 2021). Such approach
can help students to identify ‘taken-for-granted’ technologies, ac­
count for ethnography and the role of information and communi­
cation technologies (Bell and Others, 2005). In simpler words, we
can speak about redefining the problem or being prepared to
address new problems. One example of a seemingly simplistic
approach is the carbonated water assignment in Annex 1c, providing
an idea that was not explored for decades of scientific and techno­
logical progress in ultrasonic sonochemistry (i.e. chemistry caused
Fig. 2. Alignment between the Engineer definition and the KPE framework by sound phenomena).
introduced in Fig. 1. Please, note that the colours used to highlight each does • Teacher: We stress in classes that students can learn a lot while
not imply unique or direct analogies between the definition of an engineer and teaching others, and it helps us also clarifying further the elements
the KPE. discussed in the course. A good teacher can persuade those at the

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D. Fernandez Rivas and S. Husein Education for Chemical Engineers 40 (2022) 45–55

For this paper, we define an Engineer as an active connector between Science, Technology and Society, who matches knowledge and ingenuity
to practical challenges, and never stops learning and teaching others. We propose an alignment between the definition of an Engineer and KPE
in Fig. 2.

receiving end to improve their understanding and take action to­ The students are then instructed to aim at maximising the value of A by
wards the solution of a problem. Persuasiveness can be seen as a increasing K, P and E to the level needed, and identifying OF that may
positive interpersonal trait, whereas ingenuity is more of a personal stand in their way. We connect the OF to Intensification Factors (IF),
trait. Having the right ingenuity can assist teaching facts and ways of from the IF Method, explained in Annex 3 and expanded in (Rivas et al.,
working to other people, and the student during a reflection exercise. 2018; Rivas and Cintas, 2022).
Specifically, the importance of each ingredient relative to each other
Annex 5 shows an example about the Changing ratio of K, P, and E may vary dependent upon what stage of the project or innovation pro­
importance in a generic innovation experience. cess one is at. To tackle engineering innovations, we propose following
six steps, see Fig. 3. The levels of KPE at each step are indicative and
should be taken as relative to each other.
4.2. Challenging learning and education

1. Defining the magnitude of the problem. We assume at this stage that

We identify CBL as an effective way to teach and ensure better
Knowledge is likely the most important of the three ingredients.
learning experiences (Fernandez Rivas et al., 2020). There, we proposed
Clearly defining the total number of people impacted, identifying the
a visualization of how to combine Bloom’s Taxonomy Bloom (1956)
most impacted subgroups, obtaining a monetary estimate of the
with the “Chemical Engineering Toolbox” required in Process Intensi­
impact, identifying additional (non-monetary) problems that the
fication and aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In
main problem can lead to, and understanding the context. Here, the
CBL, students need to be actively engaged in a challenging problem with
PESTEL N.A. (2022) particularly reflections, framework is useful,
elements of real-world context, which typically are open problems
though additional factors such as Demographics, Intercultural,
(open-ended, unstructured, interdisciplinary, etc.) without known
Ethical and Ecological can also be added. Empathy might have some
solutions.
use at this initial stage in fully defining the extent of impact a
In short, CBL can be split into (1) Engage, where students get con­
problem has on some people, but it may also cause one to focus too
nected to the problem and define the actual problem they will work on
much on a subgroup of people.
with the help of a tutor and interacting with peers, (2) Investigate, where
2. Devise a first solution, define milestones, reflect on limitations. Subdivide
they find new knowledge and skills to understand and analyse the
the process of creating a first-attempt solution into achievable
problem mainly during self-study, and (3) Act, where students design,
milestones. Plan steps that will allow incremental achievements to­
implement and evaluate a solution, ideally with input from real-life
wards creating a comprehensive solution, while simultaneously
stakeholders.
budgeting time and resources for reflection, analysis, and feedback to
The addition of challenges to learning environments results in pas­
incorporate changes and adapt as new information is obtained.
sion, ownership, and training which more readily reflects the processes
Clearly define the limitations of each step to attempt to predict what
in the real world. The ingredients Empathy and Persuasiveness are
you might not know at a certain stage; doing so comprehensively will
readily incorporated into these three steps, stemming from the enhanced
not be possible without extensive prior experience, but adopting a
passion and ownership of the challenge faced. There is a crucial rela­
strategy that allows for re-evaluation lowers the risk of missing in­
tionship between empathy in learning and motivation (encompassing
formation that can significantly change the direction one is going.
growth-mindset, self-efficacy), and it has been highlighted at different
Clearly define a ‘go-no go step’ or time period. During this step, one
levels of education, Cooper (2011). Additional learning outcomes
should evaluate the time and resources one has at their disposal to
potentially necessary for the innovative process not encompassed by
continue going and weigh these against the probability of success (or
KPE include traits such as courage, risk-taking, and the ability to cope
risk of failure). If possible, establish contingency plans if there are
with uncertainty. As discussed previously, KPE provides an educational,
several “go” or “no go” options that can salvage part of the
foundational framework to attain more cognitively complex attributes.
achievements made up to that point. A “no go” does not have to mean
Lastly, three important elements need to accompany CBL and KPE:
a hard stop of the work done so far, but may indicate that a pivot
documentation, sharing and reflection of each of these steps. Without
towards a new end-goal is necessary. At this stage, knowledge (in
them, the actual process can be lost or will be difficult to use in the
conjunction with continuous information gathering) is still likely the
future. The evidence or reasoning behind every decision can help
most important out of KPE, but empathy will begin to play a larger
persuade others or inform at least when and what influenced each
role when defining go vs. no-go scenarios, particularly when working
aspect. In a way, the self-learning sought by CBL is what we believe
in a team where you are now risking the time and resources of others
correspond to self-discovery of solutions to problems, but perhaps in
in an entrepreneurial pursuit vs. the market demands and group for
more realistic settings (outside the classroom).
whom you are developing a solution.
3. Define metrics. Select what aspects are important to reach each
5. KPE and a guide to solve problems
milestone. The selection allows for focus and makes it clear what
information is needed most urgently. Most importantly, define
Most STEM students find it interesting to conceptualise ideas in the
several metrics or factors that can be used to evaluate whether the
form of equations, which we gladly teach. To provide a semiquantitative
problem was mitigated by a solution; these factors can be defined
analysis based on KPE to create innovative solutions, S, we propose to
even without a specific solution already developed. These factors can
identify Other Factors (OF) which can impact the applicability (A) of a
be used to define a before and an after the introduction of a solution.
given solution at a given time (t). Therefore,
The process to approximate a quantification for this evaluation is
A(t) = S(K(t), P(t), E(t)) − OF(t) (1) explained in Annex 3 and expanded in (Rivas et al., 2018; Rivas and
Cintas, 2022), termed the IF Method.
where there can be a time dependence on each of the ingredients as well.

51
D. Fernandez Rivas and S. Husein Education for Chemical Engineers 40 (2022) 45–55

Fig. 3. How KPE ratios change with time as the

proposed innovation steps are executed. Arrows
pointing up indicate that an increase in each
ingredient is desirable. Arrows at the top
pointing at the thicker black line means that
topped up ingredients are ideal, whereas those
pointing down indicate less relevance. The
entangled symbol in Step 5 indicates mixed and
maxed up ingredients during a creative process.
The arrow pointing to step one implies the cy­
clic or iterative nature of innovating processes.

4. Gather information, assemble a team. Collect the data to assign values 1. [1] Instructions to build a decision making tool to exercise
to the before and after corresponding to the IF Method introduced in Persuasiveness (IF Method), to account for people-oriented
the previous step. Data collection can occur in numerous ways: from factors.
seeking out published data, from carrying out experiments, or even 2. [2] IF Method question and Answer
building a prototype solution. If exact values cannot be obtained, 3. [3] Calculation worksheet provided to students who face diffi­
estimations can be used, but the corresponding assumptions should culties making it themselves.
be clearly defined so that the limitations of these estimates are un­ • Annex 4
derstood and kept in mind. At this stage, with metrics defined, the 1. [1] Fall 2021: example of ‘Final report’ from two groups,
limitations to gather information of the current person(s) working on including innovation and entrepreneurial elements.
the solution may become apparent. It may be beneficial to then bring • Annex 5
others onto the team. Here, the relative importance of persuasiveness 1. [1] Changing ratio of K, P, and E importance in a generic inno­
(and thus relationship building) will increase significantly compared vation experience and Hypothetical neutral case analysis.
to prior steps.
5. Break it down. This step borrows its name from music—notably, In our experiences teaching about empathy in two quarters (Fall
jazz—where each musician is given room to improvise and do what 2020, 9 students and Fall 2021, 26 students), we have observed a wide
they are best at. This is perhaps the most inaccessible of all innova­ range of reactions from the students; from very personal and engaged
tion processes, as it relies upon the creativity of individuals or of a interactions, to more impersonal and critical about the need to discuss it.
collective group. Here however, there is a link to empathy. In A similar observation was made by Walther et al. (2020), who executed
particular, a recent study shows that when people reported their four modules focusing on Encountering Others, Self and Other Aware­
work-place leaders to be empathetic, they were more likely to report ness and Affective Sharing, Affective Responding, and Mode Switching,
capacity to be innovative, (Ohm et al., 2021; Bommel, 2021). The spread over a semester (Fall 2015, 110 students and Spring 2016, 36
symbol in Figure 3 represents the entanglement of the three in­ students).
gredients during this step. This step is strongly dependent on the The idea of KPE was discussed only with the Fall 2021 group, since it
specific sub-field of engineering and the actual problem and context. was developed after some of the previous discussions in 2020. Before
The TRIZ process -also known as the theory of inventive problem writing the empathy assignment, we had an open discussion about KPE
solving (TIPS)- could fit here Sutter (2022). Another possibility is in the classroom (not included in the grade assessment). This was a very
using the Structure, Energy, Synergy and Time (SEST) four ap­ lively experience where almost all students interacted and were trig­
proaches, Van Gerven and Stankiewicz (2009). gered about the relevance of the terms Persuasiveness and Empathy.
6. Calculating and deciding. This step can be seen as a recurring step They were not familiar with ‘durable skills’ in the Engineering educa­
which should come whenever significant progress toward a mile­ tional context.
stone has been made, or highly impactful new information has been
obtained. It is a moment where a decision to proceed or not is made, 6.1. Selected testimonials and students evaluation
referenced in Step Two as the “go or no-go” point. See Annex 3 for the
explanation of the IF method and Annex 4 for how students use it. For a broader set of testimonials and evaluations from students,
please see Annex 2.2. For the experience of 2021, the students gave
6. Selected evidence of application of KPE anonymous responses such as:

We first provide a list of the Annexes cited in the previous sections, • What was the most valuable aspect of this part of the course?
which contain evidence of our experiences teaching KPE. 1. [Student 3] I liked how the project was really applicable to a real
life problem. And how the techniques in the project were very
• Annex 1 early stage and not well known yet. This gives a different dynamic
1. [a] Fall 2021: Course syllabus, Discussion on ‘What is Empathy?’, compared to the usual projects with set outcomes.
‘Empathy assignment’ instructions, Peer-reviewed panel of the 2. [Student 4] It pushed us in the direction of believing that things
‘Empathy assignment’ for two groups of students. can always be improved.
2. [b] Fall 2020: ‘Empathy assignment’ instructions, individual • What did you find less important? (e.g. to be removed).
‘Empathy assignment’ essay from two students, Questionnaire 1. [Student 1] I don’t really see the connection between the empathy
filled out by students after the course ended. assignment and the rest of the course. Maybe there is an obvious
3. [c] Examples of ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Persuasiveness assignments’. one, but it was not really clear to me personally.
• Annex 2 2. [Student 5] The empathy assignment. I actually enjoyed doing the
1. [1] Personal cases from the co-authors, and a collaborator. assignment. The problem I had with it was that it was not clear to
2. [2] Testimonials and students evaluation me how it related to the rest of the course or the main project. I
• Annex 3

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D. Fernandez Rivas and S. Husein Education for Chemical Engineers 40 (2022) 45–55

would like it to maybe be changed in a way that it would also be the empathy assignment and in-class discussion).
useful for the project. Based on the richness of the responses given by the students, and the
complexity of the topic, we are now preparing a more structured set of
In 2022, the system to get feedback changed and not all the questions activities to better connect all the elements discussed around KPE and
were the same, but here is a set of anonymous reactions: innovating actions. We are aware that the feeling and opinion of the
students that did not answer are important, and we will design new ways
• Were the learning objectives of this course clear to you? to get their input instead of volunteering to fill out questionnaires. What
1. [Student 1] Not really. The first assignment on empathy was okay we consider a success is that we have made all students aware of the
and I understood that we had a certain number of assignments to existence of a human-related component to the role of engineers in
do, however the things we had to do and the deadlines were society.
confusing. We also consulted a Social Sciences MSc student to evaluate the
2. [Student 2] The assessment was well explained. evaluations from the students and their project reports (see the
• Which online teaching activities helped you best? expanded answer in Annex 2.2): “(…) the course looks interesting and
1. [Student 2] Empathy that I find it very cool to see empathy also find its place in engineering as
• Did you use Empathy before in your work? (specify if knowingly or an important value. (…) The creative applications of engineering in
not). Do you think of using empathy in your engineering design conjunction with empathy showed a lot of promise in the students’
process? thinking. In my view it is great to see and I looked for ways to enhance/
1. [Student 3] Yes, when trying to design solutions to increase the channel that creativity and innovative thinking around the problems
life quality of patients. and solutions the students found.” The input from this student was
2. [Student 4] Yes, to engage with my co-workers. Empathy could used to improve the activities in 2022.
indeed be useful for the design and implementation of ideas. The reflections from a PhD student about KPE also gave us more
3. [Student 5] I think I have used it knowingly but without specif­ insight (see the expanded answer in Annex 2.2):
ically naming it. I plan to continue using it as this is what allows “Humans are egocentric by design and we tend to prioritize our
me to find problems to solve and to design a proper solution. immediate needs over that of many nobler causes. The effect of this
• What you think is the best aspect of combining KPE? Can you please egocentric (or unempathetic) approach is far-reaching. (…) Problem
provide some weak aspect(s) you may have identified in this com­ solving today must invariably take into account socio-economic impact.
bination of ingredients? Not only do the most pressing problems we currently face have enor­
1. [Student 3] It’s a nice schematic to describe the broad process of mous social effects (such as climate change disproportionately affecting
designing and implementing a new product/idea. Weak aspect: the poor), but markets are also beginning to adapt to an increased
might be to general to be applied in detail to real life problems appetite for socially-conscious initiatives. This is where empathy plays a
2. [Student 4] The best aspect is that the framework includes the crucial role. A conscious attempt at empathy (which surely most of us
nature of human beings, i.e., ideas and applications are done for are capable of) can help sway the entreprenerial process toward some of
and by humans. Something that is normally overlooked when the most pressing challenges of our time without overtly stymying
teaching engineering/science. general capitalistic innovation. As a PhD candidate (at the time of
3. [Student 5] I think the strongest aspect of combining KPE is that it writing), the role of knowledge is clear and quite frankly, fundamental
is oriented at effective provision of solutions to real-life problems. to my line of work. I must however, admit that I’ve overemphasized the
This is what I consider to be the core interest of any engineer. In K aspect thus far. I haven’t fully appreciated the impact that the other
terms of weak aspects: I think that sometimes people may not two components have had on my career. Empathy, in particular, has
understand the importance or a genius of a solution before they played a pivotal role in bringing me this far. (…) Most people I compete
see it. In such cases the best option is to replace “persuasiveness” with for academic positions have good, if not better, academic creden­
with “perseverance” and convince the stakeholders at a later stage tials - the K factor doesn’t play a determining role. It helps if you can
with a ready solution. I think this is what the KPE framework does demonstrate P and E. This goes to show that the KPE framework is
not consider. extensible beyond entrepreneurship - it can provide tangible benefits to
• Do you think that empathy is important for science education? one’s career while still making meaningful contributions to society.”
1. [Student 3] Yes, for everything. A colleague from the Centre for Educational Support from our uni­
2. [Student 4] Yes, otherwise we might not be able to solve the versity summarised the KPE framework as follows:
important problems of society or even convince the public that “In my opinion you came with a teaching method to train engineers
science is a key tool to solve them. of the future who are human and technical THE combination in the
3. [Student 5] Yes. If our goal is not only to understand the world ‘google- generation’ to make a real difference. We need smart engineers
around us but also to improve it, then we should teach empathy - how can listen to the client, translate wishes in ‘normal language’ to
not necessarily directly but it should be introduced in one way or extraordinary ideas/products etc.” She also reminded us that the phi­
another. losophy of our University of Twente is: “High-tech, human touch”,
• Are you more aware of people-oriented solutions, even when faced UTwente (2022).
with a technical problem?
1. [Student 3] I think I was always subconsciously aware, maybe 7. Conclusions
now a bit more consciously
2. [Student 4] Not sure what is being asked. We have argued that the KPE framework enables gaining higher
3. [Student 5] In general - yes. That being said, I think it really de­ order abilities e.g., relationship building and adaptability, thus giving us
pends on a particular problem and on for whom I provide the a starting point to educate more innovative and entrepreneurial engi­
solution. neers. To enable effective and sustainable innovation, we have proposed
a more explicit inclusion of persuasiveness and empathy education in
For us it was interesting to see how the expectations of the students technical fields, in particular for Chemical Engineering.
varied, and sometimes contradicted each other. We noted that in 2022, The KPE framework we have introduced may help define common
one group included spontaneously in their final report a section on ground that facilitates the exchange of best practices and results be­
‘Empathy’ (see Annex 4 Group 3). This indicates that they had incor­ tween professions which do not generally emphasize empathy, e.g.,
porated the learning experiences from the previous activities (writing engineering, and others which do to some degree, e.g., many medical

53
D. Fernandez Rivas and S. Husein Education for Chemical Engineers 40 (2022) 45–55

professions. Research and Innovation Programme Grant Agreement No. 851630. We

Broadly speaking, engineering may be typically viewed as a problem- appreciate the valuable discussions with several colleagues in the
solving discipline, where the technical aspects are either emphasized or preparation of this work: M. Modestino, F.M.J.W. van den Berg, T.
are the sole focus—in this work, we claim STEM professionals-in- Boundarouk, R. Saive, B. Koelewijn, R. Herms, M. ter Maat, C. Scholten.
training should be taught that the output of their efforts should
include a dimension of persuasiveness and empathy. Likewise, they Conflict of interests
should be given tools to develop both empathetic and persuasiveness
abilities in parallel with tools to develop knowledge. We posit that the DFR is co-founder of the company BuBclean, located in The
principles of Challenge Based Learning are a prime candidate testing Netherlands, and has financial interest in it.
ground for integrating these new ways of teaching.
We provide six steps which embody the principles of the KPE Appendix A. Supporting information
framework. These steps are not a checklist of processes which students
must rigidly follow, but instead one demonstration of the links between Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in the
knowledge, persuasiveness, empathy, and the actions undertaken in the online version at doi:10.1016/j.ece.2022.05.002.
pursuit of innovation. We hope that these steps can be applicable in
courses, no matter the complexity or dependence on equipment or in References
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