Business is increasingly conducted in a global environment, and mechanical engineering students are expected to be proficient in leadership skills as well as strong technical skills. Many authors state that instead of adding more material and more courses to the engineering curriculum, which would likely turn students away from engineering, engineering educators need to respond by opening up access to engineering with the larger world. We found that one of the effective ways of bringing real-world issues related to the areas of manufacturing and design, thermal engineering, acoustics, vibration, welding and nondestructive evaluation into classrooms is through the use of case study methodology. The Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education (LITEE) at Auburn University has developed eighteen multimedia case studies over the past ten years. Faculty and students partnering with various industries develop these case studies. The case studies focus on real-world problems that actually occurred in the chosen industry. All the technical and business details related to the problem are provided in the case study. Through the use of information technologies we created multi-media case studies that bring real-world decision making from the engineering industry into the classrooms. The students analyze the problem in the class using role-playing, thereby simulating the decision-making scenario that occurred in the industry. The students also have an opportunity to compare their solutions to what happened in the industry. This paper describes the steps involved in developing a LITEE case study, administering this case study in engineering classrooms, and the results of evaluating the effectiveness of this method of instruction. This paper also discusses the details of different case studies related to the above-mentioned areas available through LITEE.
Many students who take Introduction to Engineering classes are freshmen and need help in learning engineering concepts. In this paper, we discuss the development, implementation, and evaluation of a video-and game-based instructional tool called a concept tutor. These concept tutors focus on one concept at a time, and they can be used as supplemental material to a lecture. These tutors provide additional help to students in explaining the concepts taught in class and reinforcing their learning. The purpose of concept tutors is to increase the undergraduate students' enthusiasm for and attention to the concepts taught using this instructional methodology. The concept tutors engage the students in a learning process meant to improve retention rate.The concept tutor consists of three phases. The first phase is definition and real-world applications of the concept. The second phase includes a step-by-step presentation of the concept in a general format that explains the concept through a targeted problem. In this phase, the concept tutor is split into topic videos. The third phase consists of assessments to measure the students' understanding of the material presented. After viewing each video, the students are required to answer a set of questions that test the concepts they learned. Students are allowed to choose the format of the test. They can choose either a regular multiple-choice assessment or a game-based assessment.Quantitative and qualitative results show that students find such materials useful; furthermore, the students preferred this method to complement a lecture. We report the development methodology of the tutor and evaluation results in this paper.
In 2007, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) began working with a marketing company to rebrand engineering and better communicate the importance of engineering to the public and potential future engineers. The resulting messages were 1) Engineers are creative problem solvers, 2) Engineers make a world of difference, 3) Engineering is essential to our health, happiness, and safety, and 4) Engineers help shape the future. In 2008, the NAE launched the Engineering Grand Challenges website.The fourteen grand challenges highlight key challenges facing modern society that reinforce the engineering messages of how engineers and their creative problem solving skills are essential to improving our world and shaping the future.
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