Abstract
A Project-Based Learning (PBL) experience for undergraduate students of aerospace engineering is described in this paper. The experience allows the students to build a model rocket using materials which can be easily obtained. They also compute all the relevant quantities to design and characterize the rocket and they test the robustness of their design. They furthermore launch the rocket with the corresponding payload and verify the flight parameters using an on-board altimeter. Finally, they also compare the flight parameters with the theoretically expected values. Using this simple scheme the students are later introduced in the simulation of complex flows, using standard techniques. We find that our students get rapidly involved in the project, allowing them to acquire several practical abilities, besides developing an accurate knowledge of the physics of rockets and of fluid dynamics.
Highlights
Graduate coursework in aerospace engineering is intended in large part to prepare students for professional practice of engineering in companies and state or international agencies and, in some cases, for postgraduate research, either in the public or private sector
During the Model Rocket Workshop (MRW) the students are expected to work as they would do as engineers in a professional environment, where solutions of specific problems are formulated, planned and developed
The model rockets were launched from a site located in the vicinity of the University Campus
Summary
Graduate coursework in aerospace engineering is intended in large part to prepare students for professional practice of engineering in companies and state or international agencies and, in some cases, for postgraduate research, either in the public or private sector. With the ongoing desire to improve the teaching of intrinsically complex topics using reform-based approaches, there has been an opportunity to move beyond the classical structure of engineering and physics courses to new experiences in which the students are the real and leading actors of their education. Many of these experiences involve the concept of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) [2-5]. Since September 2001, a bachelor degree in Aerospace Engineering is offered at the EPSC When this bachelor was initially designed all the courseware (virtual campuses, assessment tools...) where already in place.
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