A Project Based Freshman Engineering Design Experience First

Abstract

During the Spring Semester of 1997, a freshman engineering class was immersed into the engineering design process by working side-by-side with faculty, engineers and high school students to design and construct a robot to compete in the FIRST Competition. The students studied and applied a nine step design process to bring their conceptual paper designs to life by building a 3'x'3'x4', 120 pound robot in just six weeks. Based on student feedback, this hands-on application of the engineering design process was much more effective (and more fun) than the traditional lecture style course. The freshman felt they learned a great deal more about 'real' engineering when faced with deadlines, budget constraints, teamwork conflicts, the laws of physics, etc. The FIRST robot competition is an ideal project to expose freshman to the engineering design process.

Flexible Engineers: History, Challenges, and Opportunities for Engineering Education

“…A cursory review of 554 publications listed at the Web sites of the engineering coalitions indicates that more than half (or 284) reported innovations in design education revealing that design education is perceived as one of the most prevalent vehicles to educate flexible engineers . Some design initiatives expand design experiences in the first year with the hope of introducing students to what engineering is all about as early as possible (Courter, Millar, & Lyons, 1998;Dally & Zhang, 1993;Hiles, 1997;Schulz & Saviz, 2001). Other initiatives integrate design throughout the curriculum with the goal of helping students in "making the transition from the 'seat-of-the-pants' freshman design approach to the engineering design approach required for the capstone experience and engineering practice" (Carroll Douglas, 1997;Knecht, 2002).…”