A Pilot Program in Open-Ended Problem Solving and Project Management

Paul M. Yanik; Chip W. Ferguson; Sudhir Kaul; Yanjun Yan

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Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Project-Based Learning
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--27494
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/27494
Download Count: 580

Paper Authors

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Paul M. Yanik Western Carolina University

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Dr. Paul Yanik is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology at Western Carolina University. His research interests include human-robot interactions, assistive devices, pattern recognition, machine learning, and engineering education.

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Chip W. Ferguson Western Carolina University

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Chip Ferguson is the Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology and Professor of Engineering and Technology at Western Carolina University.

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Sudhir Kaul Western Carolina University orcid.org/0000-0003-4696-1571

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Dr. Kaul is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Western Carolina University. His research interests include Fracture Diagnostics, Structural Dynamics and Control, and Motorcycle Dynamics.

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Yanjun Yan Western Carolina University orcid.org/0000-0002-5152-6614

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Yanjun Yan received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology (China), and the M.S. degree in Applied Statistics and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University. She is an assistant professor in engineering and technology at Western Carolina University. Her research interests are statistical signal processing, diagnostics, and particle swarm optimization.

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Abstract

Accreditation criteria for engineering programs have come to place emphasis on what is being learned versus what is being taught. Engineering programs must now show that their graduates are achieving a specific set of learning outcomes. Historically, programs have focused on outcomes involving technical competence. Project Based Learning (PBL) has come to the fore as a means to promote these outcomes through active student participation in multidisciplinary, open-ended, group projects requiring self-direction, and teamwork. Industry studies have indicated that changes in engineering education are needed to address perceived deficiencies in other skills related to work readiness including communication and interpersonal skills, awareness of global issues (social, environmental, economic), leadership, and skills related to project management. This research is motivated by the need for PBL practices in engineering programs to provide early exposure to work readiness skills in order to promote students’ effectiveness in dealing with complex open-ended technical problems as may be encountered in senior capstone projects or in professional practice. Use of Rube Goldberg machines as a vehicle for teaching basic engineering design skills has been employed in a number of settings. These projects require students to creatively consider a variety of unconventional approaches to simple problems. In so doing, student teams are enabled to communicate and to advance their ideas in a nonthreatening forum where brainstorming is highly valued and where prior technical expertise affords no specific advantage. As such, projects based on Rube Goldberg machines present an effective way for freshmen and sophomore students, who may lack extensive technical skills, to acquire greater proficiency in the areas where industry has observed the greatest deficiencies. This research presents results from a pilot study in project management using the Rube Goldberg paradigm. The goal of the study was to create an effective teaching mechanism for project management concepts that could underpin an interdisciplinary series of PBL-oriented undergraduate engineering courses from its earliest stages. A cohort of engineering and engineering technology students participated in a sequence of sessions in which they undertook progressively challenging project assignments. Each project introduced new constraints that required the students to address additional aspects of project management. Results from an end-of-year questionnaire showed that the student participants had strongly positive impressions of their experiences related to these exercises. A majority of students felt that they had enhanced skills that would be valuable in professional life (96%), they had held leadership roles and improved their leadership skills (92%), and had gained appreciation for the value of project planning (100%) and technical documentation (96%). It is anticipated that lessons learned from the project sequence will provide the framework for cross-disciplinary freshman and sophomore PBL assignments.

Citation
Format

Yanik, P. M., & Ferguson, C. W., & Kaul, S., & Yan, Y. (2017, June), A Pilot Program in Open-Ended Problem Solving and Project Management Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--27494

TY - CPAPER
AB - Accreditation criteria for engineering programs have come to place emphasis on what is being learned versus what is being taught. Engineering programs must now show that their graduates are achieving a specific set of learning outcomes. Historically, programs have focused on outcomes involving technical competence. Project Based Learning (PBL) has come to the fore as a means to promote these outcomes through active student participation in multidisciplinary, open-ended, group projects requiring self-direction, and teamwork. Industry studies have indicated that changes in engineering education are needed to address perceived deficiencies in other skills related to work readiness including communication and interpersonal skills, awareness of global issues (social, environmental, economic), leadership, and skills related to project management. This research is motivated by the need for PBL practices in engineering programs to provide early exposure to work readiness skills in order to promote students’ effectiveness in dealing with complex open-ended technical problems as may be encountered in senior capstone projects or in professional practice. Use of Rube Goldberg machines as a vehicle for teaching basic engineering design skills has been employed in a number of settings. These projects require students to creatively consider a variety of unconventional approaches to simple problems. In so doing, student teams are enabled to communicate and to advance their ideas in a nonthreatening forum where brainstorming is highly valued and where prior technical expertise affords no specific advantage. As such, projects based on Rube Goldberg machines present an effective way for freshmen and sophomore students, who may lack extensive technical skills, to acquire greater proficiency in the areas where industry has observed the greatest deficiencies. This research presents results from a pilot study in project management using the Rube Goldberg paradigm. The goal of the study was to create an effective teaching mechanism for project management concepts that could underpin an interdisciplinary series of PBL-oriented undergraduate engineering courses from its earliest stages. A cohort of engineering and engineering technology students participated in a sequence of sessions in which they undertook progressively challenging project assignments. Each project introduced new constraints that required the students to address additional aspects of project management. Results from an end-of-year questionnaire showed that the student participants had strongly positive impressions of their experiences related to these exercises. A majority of students felt that they had enhanced skills that would be valuable in professional life (96%), they had held leadership roles and improved their leadership skills (92%), and had gained appreciation for the value of project planning (100%) and technical documentation (96%). It is anticipated that lessons learned from the project sequence will provide the framework for cross-disciplinary freshman and sophomore PBL assignments.
AU - Paul M. Yanik
AU - Chip W. Ferguson
AU - Sudhir Kaul
AU - Yanjun Yan
CY - Columbus, Ohio
DA - 2017/06/24
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - A Pilot Program in Open-Ended Problem Solving and Project Management
UR - https://peer.asee.org/27494
DO - 10.18260/1-2--27494
ER -