The Development Of An Innovative Undergraduate Laboratory That Emphasizes Vertical Integration In Multiple Engineering Curricula

Abstract

The current paradigm in engineering instruction builds on a lecture prerequisite structure but ignores the need for a laboratory prerequisite structure. This paper presents a learning environment that enables students to use not only concepts and skills acquired from the lecture, but also actual data and models acquired from lower division laboratories, in upper division laboratories. The vertical integration occurs because students must use their previous laboratory work as a reference and/or building blocks as they study the different facets of the same experimental set-ups in multiple engineering laboratories. The students learn to appreciate the integrated nature of modern systems because they can use the same set-ups in multiple courses. There are other indirect advantages of this approach in terms of financial economy and faculty professional development. This project has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and has resulted in the development of the Integrated Systems Engineering Laboratory (ISEL) that houses vertically integrated laboratory exercises for twelve courses from three different curricula.