Toward better learning opportunities for undergraduate mechanical engineering students: A case study

Abstract

This paper presents an attempt to enhance the learning opportunities for undergraduate mechanical engineering students. We introduce a variety of interactive activities in a major elective course to encourage students’ engagement in the learning process, enable a better understanding of the course material, and promote critical thinking. To investigate the impact of these activities on learning, feedback was obtained directly from students via surveys, online discussions, and face-to-face meetings. Overall, students valued the teaching approach based on active learning. On completion of the course, the program outcomes were successfully achieved as per the students’ perceptions and direct measures calculated by the instructor from the different assessment tools. Group problem solving and out-of-class projects were the most beneficial activities to their learning. Some students raised some concerns related to time management and unclear roles in the group. Suggestions were also given to the instructor to improve further the learning process. The students requested mainly to have more time when solving illustrative problems in the class and add an experimental component to the course.