Abstract

This paper presents an effort to revitalize a large introductory engineering course for incoming freshman students that teaches them analytical design through a project-based curriculum. This course was completely transformed from a seminar-based to a project-based course that integrates hands-on experimentation with analytical work. The project is centered on a reconfigurable trebuchet kit that student groups assemble and work to identify design decisions that will maximize projectile launch distance. Challenges include streamlining the project experience for the large enrollment (up to 148 students) with limited contact hours, and helping students fuse hands-on experiences with quantitative engineering analysis. A mixed-methods approach supported the claim that the curriculum improved the students’ engineering judgment and demonstrated to students the value of engineering analysis and mathematical models in practical engineering design. A rigorous statistical analysis of student trebuchet launch performance at different course stages is included. A qualitative assessment of student learning is derived through students’ reflection of their course experience. Comprehensive results comparing students’ design iterations versus algorithmic design optimization iterations provide important insights into student design intuition, paving the way for hybrid design education models that teach students how to combine human design intuition with quantitative design tools to design superior systems.

Highlights

  • Traditional engineering design courses often have relied on happenstance to link theory with practice

  • The data consists of the information obtained from four course assignments—a design of experiments (DOE) activity, model-based design activity, and two field day trebuchet launches with physical experiments

  • The rankings for students is fractional since its averaged over all the student groups

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Summary

Introduction

Traditional engineering design courses often have relied on happenstance to link theory with practice. Noticing these deficits in student practical engineering design experience, the Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign decided to revamp its freshman-level engineering course by introducing a project-based curriculum. The premise was that a project-based, hands-on activity that was connected carefully with quantitative engineering analysis would introduce students to the rigors of engineering design practice at an early stage in their engineering career, along with other benefits.

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