A New Approach to the Treatment of Modeling in the Freshman Engineering Course at Roger Williams University

Matthew R. Stein

Charles R. Thomas

School of Engineering, Computing

and Construction Management

Roger Williams University

Bristol, RI 02809

NE ASEE

WPI

March 2006

NE ASEE 2006 2

ENRG 110 – Engineering Graphics and Design

• 1st Engineering course at RWU – (Fall semester of freshman year)

• ~60 Students• 50% AutoCAD instruction• 50% instruction in

engineering design• Design: semester-long

group project 2005-2006 Undergraduate Catalog

NE ASEE 2006 3

Teaching “Design”

• Topics:– Difference between design

and science– 5 stages of design– Needs assessment– Stages of team

development– Managing Conflict– Models and prototypes

• Method:– Lecture– Hands-on activity

• Hands on Example for Models and Prototypes:– Draw a battery-powered

pencil sharpener

NE ASEE 2006 4

FA 2006 – Design Project Description

• Structurally Challenging– Raise a 16 lb bowling ball as high as possible over a

horizontal standard and deposit it back on the floor in a small wooden container

• Materials– 10’ of 2’’ diameter PVC– 2’ x 2’’ x 2’’ piece of lumber– 2’’ PVC spherical cap – Roll of el-cheapo duct tape– 200 standard, intact, unmodified empty aluminum cans

NE ASEE 2006 5

FA 2006 – Design Project Description

• Limited support points– Three wooden platforms

1, 2'x2' team-member platform with attached crank 3, 2'x2' structure

support platforms

Bowling Ball in starting fixture Destination fixture

Standard posts

HorizontalBar

4’

NE ASEE 2006 6

FA 2006 – Design Project Description

• Limited human participation– Students may only turn a crank

1, 2'x2' team-member platform with attached crank 3, 2'x2' structure

support platforms

Bowling Ball in starting fixture Destination fixture

Standard posts

HorizontalBar

4’

NE ASEE 2006 7

FA 2006 – Design Project Description

• Semi-competitive demonstration– Four trials used at any time during

the semester – typically the final day– Scoring

• Points for specific heights• Bonus for three best heights

NE ASEE 2006 8

Modeling the Design Project – Hands on activity

Common student questions:• Will our design work?• Do we violate any rules?

• Answer: Hold a mini-design competition based on the semester-long project– One class period in length– Fabulous prize (high-quality

duct tape)– Analogous materials– Analogous goals

Our Intent:

Demonstrate the value of modeling in solving engineering problems

NE ASEE 2006 9

Modeling the Design Project – Hands on activity

Materials Model

PVC pipe Drinking Straw

Piece of lumber 1/8’’ diameter wooden dowel

PVC cap [Nothing: A hidden message?]

Duct TapePlasticine Modeling Clay

Aluminum Cans

NE ASEE 2006 10

Comparison

To the Video!!

NE ASEE 2006 11

Did it work?

• Asked students to comment on the activity in their design notebooks and on semester-end course evaluations

• Just because the activity is enjoyed by the students, does not mean that the goal was accomplished!!

• Must avoid asking specific questions to which students think there is a “correct answer”

NE ASEE 2006 12

Student Feedback

• Survey question, comments in design notebook– The modeling exercise was excellent.– The modeling exercise was not useful at all, because my particular

groups idea could not work on a small scale, it just wasn’t possible, so we made a model of something totally different than our project.

– Modeling was excellent, helped us to creat a part for our structure we didn't think we needed

– I found the experiences of this class very valuable. The modeling was real life experiences that gave me an idea of what will be expected of me in an engineering job in the future. I found this information very helpful.

NE ASEE 2006 13

• Conclusions– Modeling activity seemed to be enjoyed by the students– Less convincing that the objective message was communicated

goals

• Future Work– Solicit more specific feedback– Again be wary of looking for what they perceive to be “correct

answers”– Do the exercise earlier in the semester to give them some time to

actually use the method

Conclusions and Future Work

NE ASEE 2006 14

• Photo of PVC pipe: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nsf.org/business/newsroom/

plumbing99-1/pvcpipe.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nsf.org/business/newsroom/plumbing99-1/pvcpipe.html&h=162&w=232&sz=7&tbnid=PfD_XolzJ0pvlM:&tbnh=71&tbnw=103&hl=en&start=3&prev=/images%3Fq%3DPVC%2Bpipe%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3DRNWE,RNWE:2005-41,RNWE:en%26sa%3DN

Sources