Students’ Experience of an Integrated Electrical Engineering and Data Acquisition Course in an Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Curriculum

Abstract

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Contribution:</i> This article presents an innovative course sequence to integrate Electrical Engineering (EE) Fundamentals into the Mechanical Engineering (ME) Instrumentation and Data Acquisition (DAQ) course and reports students’ experience relevant to the sequence’s intended outcomes of helping students learn and connect EE concepts with ME applications and develop their engineering identities. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Background:</i> The ME Department at Seattle University was awarded a National Science Foundation Grant to revolutionize its undergraduate program. This project focuses on doing engineering to foster stronger engineering identities. This course sequence is part of the curriculum change for this project and includes open-ended, real-world labs incorporating both EE and DAQ. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research Questions:</i> 1) <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Engineering Learning:</i> What evidence is there that students learned EE and DAQ concepts and integrated them with ME? 2) <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Identity Development:</i> How did the students connect the experience to their evolving identity as engineers? 3) <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Over-Time Experience:</i> How did students experience the course? <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Methodology:</i> A mix of quantitative and qualitative data was used: quantitative data (a standardized test) and qualitative data source (mini reflections that students provided over the course sequence) were analyzed to address the research questions that connect the educational design aspects and the intended outcomes. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Findings:</i> The new course sequence created an opportunity to do engineering in a rich way and provided fertile ground for developing engineering identities. Students understood and retained EE and DAQ concepts at a level equal to when the material was taught via separate courses.