We contend that it is imperative that we recognize the internalization of the principles of engineering design as a career sustaining competency. Accordingly, we have piloted a pre-capstone course called Principles of Engineering Design. We aim to empower the students to internalize the principles of engineering design, learn through doing (reading, designing, building, testing, and post-project analysis), learn to frame, postulate, and implement a plan of action for their Spring 2016 Capstone projects, and transition from being a student to a junior engineer in a company. In this course through a scaffolded set of assignments and activities we provide an opportunity for junior engineers internalize the principles of engineering design.
In Fall 2015 our junior engineers were introduced to a problem which involved designing, building, and testing a device capable of navigating a track filled with various sections of “difficult” terrain and pop a buried balloon. Periodic in-class and out-of-class activities enabled the instructors to assess learning and coach the budding engineers. In keeping with Kolb’s experiential learning [1] construct activities included requiring students in class to write “learning statements.” Learning statements are a structured statement that enables students to articulate learning in the context of an authentic, immersive experience. These statements are evaluated for content and the depth of insight expressed therein and then returned to the students with comments.
In this paper, we cover the salient features of a course AME4163 – Principles of Engineering Design and the findings from an analysis of the learning statements. Findings from an analysis of student learning statements include the degree to which the principles of engineering design have been internalized by students as well as whether or not the assessment of the student learning statements can be used to predict student performance in courses that are patterned after Kolb’s experiential learning construct.
Jackson Autrey is a Master of Science student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and currently is involved with research into design-based engineering education. After completion of his Master’s degree, Jackson plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering.
http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-6835-0902
The University of Oklahoma
[biography]
Farrokh’s passion is to have fun in providing an opportunity for highly motivated and talented people to learn how to define and achieve their dreams.
Farrokh Mistree holds the L. A. Comp Chair in the School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at
Zahed Siddique is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering of University of Oklahoma. His research interest include product family design, advanced material and engineering education. He is interested in
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