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

1
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

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

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

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

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FA 2006 Design Project Description

• Limited support points
• Three wooden platforms

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FA 2006 Design Project Description

• Limited human participation
• Students may only turn a crank

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

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
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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 Tape Plasticine Modeling Clay
Aluminum Cans Plasticine Modeling Clay
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Comparison
To the Video!!
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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

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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 wasnt 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.

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Conclusions and Future Work

• 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

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Sources

• Photo of PVC pipe http//images.google.com/imgres
  ?imgurlhttp//www.nsf.org/business/newsroom/plumb
  ing99-1/pvcpipe.jpgimgrefurlhttp//www.nsf.org/b
  usiness/newsroom/plumbing99-1/pvcpipe.htmlh162w
  232sz7tbnidPfD_XolzJ0pvlMtbnh71tbnw103h
  lenstart3prev/images3Fq3DPVC2Bpipe26svnum
  3D1026hl3Den26lr3D26safe3Doff26rls3DRNWE,
  RNWE2005-41,RNWEen26sa3DN