Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Main Menu

Session # 2666

Experiential Problem Based Learning in the Mechanics of Materials Laboratory

Ronald U. Goulet, Ph.D., P.E., Joseph Owino, Ph.D., P.E. College of Engineering and Computer Science University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Background

The College of Engineering and Computer Science at UT Chattanooga has reported broad efforts aimed to modernize and enhance undergraduate engineering laboratories and design courses.1,2,3,4,5. This process of improvement was recently directed to the mechanics of materials laboratory course. The College offers second year engineering students a one credit hour mechanics of materials lab concurrently with a three credit hour lecture. Historically, the lab experience consisted of demonstrations and a final truss design/build assignment. The sequence of demonstration lab topics included: hardness testing of metals, toughness testing and the Charpy impact specimen, tensile testing of metals, deflection and strain of a simply supported beam, deflection and strain of a shaft in torsion and deflection and strain of a truss. The final project required each student to analyze, construct then proof test a simply supported balsa truss of some given design.

Review and Findings

The lab improvement process began with information gathering, a review of the course content for compatibility with its co-requisite and subsequent courses in the mechanics of materials sequence as well as an examination of the degree to which (ABET 2000) program outcomes might be derived. The course content review indicated that the course included: § Considerable application of principles of stress and strain in the analysis of a truss § Limited applications of these principles in shaft elements in torsion or in beam elements in bending § Duplicate coverage of topics contained in the third year materials science engineering course: hardness, toughness, and tensile testing.

Regarding program outcomes, the review revealed that the course contained: § Limited use of computer applications for analysis and design of truss § No use of web resources § Considerable hands-on activity related to construction of truss § Minimal exposure to modern data acquisition systems § Minimal use of computer applications for data analysis and reporting § No team based activities

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

Main Menu

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Owino, J., & Goulet, R. (2002, June), Experiential Problem Based Learning In The Mechanics Of Materials Laboratory Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--11106