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Session 1353

Experiences with a Comprehensive Freshman Hands-On Course – Designing, Building, and Testing Small Autonomous Robots

Richard J. Freuler, Michael J. Hoffmann, Theodore P. Pavlic, James M. Beams, Jeffery P. Radigan, Prabal K. Dutta, John T. Demel, and Erik D. Justen

The Ohio State University

Abstract

During the past ten years, The Ohio State University's College of Engineering has been aggressively addressing the issue of student retention. A major element in this effort is the development of a first-year engineering program that has moved from a series of related but separate courses for first-year engineering fundamentals to a framework that involves two course sequences with tightly coupled courses. Engineering orientation, engineering graphics, and engineering problem solving with computer programming are now offered in each of two course sequences,1 one called the Fundamentals of Engineering and the other the Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors. These course sequences retain part of the traditional material but now include hands-on laboratory experiences that lead to design/build projects.2 Teamwork, project management, report writing, and oral presentations have assumed important roles in both sequences. This paper describes the administrative and teaching experiences with a design/build project course in the Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors sequence that serves as a capstone-like culmination to the engineering honor students' first academic year.

1. Introduction and Background

During the past ten years, The Ohio State University's College of Engineering has been aggressively addressing the issue of student retention. A major element in this effort is the development of a first-year engineering program with a track for honors students. The Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors (FEH) sequence is a tightly coupled three-course sequence with each course lasting the full 10 weeks of an academic quarter. The first course is labeled ENG H191 and offers each student a solid foundation in the fundamentals of engineering graphics and CAD, and it also incorporates a number of hands-on laboratory exercises designed to introduce the engineering disciplines. The second course, ENG H192, presents an introduction to computer programming with the C and MATLAB languages, and engineering problem solving involving computer programs and computer tools. The hands-on lab experiences continue and are designed to further explore the engineering disciplines as well as reinforce the problem solving techniques acquired in the classroom. Both courses have a mini- design/build project usually carried out by 2-person teams over a one-week period at the end of the academic quarter.

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Pavlic, T., & Dutta, P., & Hoffmann, M., & Radigan, J., & Beams, J., & Justen, E., & Demel, J., & Freuler, R. (2003, June), Experiences With A Comprehensive Freshman Hands On Course Designing, Building, And Testing Small Autonomous Robots Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--11882