Enjoyeering Junior: A hands-on activity to enhance technological learning in an engineering dynamics course

Abstract

The 21st century global competition has emphasized design of innovative products and solutions as the core competency requested today in the job market for engineers. To produce good design thinkers, design activities must be implemented in engineering curriculums, and have to start at early years. This paper presents a cost effective activity untitled Enjoyeering Junior held in parallel with a course on mechanical dynamics and introduced early in the program, which aim to introduce junior students to engineering real-world problems and product design. The practical activity involves several technological tools that enhance the students' learning. Explicitly, students are compelled to apply principles and concepts taught in the course of dynamics to design a mechanical system and predict its motion. In addition to theoretical calculations, students are also asked to simulate the motion of their system in a dynamic software Working Model 2D, build their mechanical system using common materials and control it by an Arduino microcontroller in conjunction with different sensors and actuators. The learning framework, the activity assignment, organization and implementation are discussed in the paper.