Full Paper: Can a First Day Activity Help Raise Customer Awareness, an Important Attribute of an Entrepreneurially Minded Engineer?

Haolin Zhu

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Conference: 2019 FYEE Conference
Location: Penn State University , Pennsylvania
Publication Date: July 28, 2019
Start Date: July 28, 2019
End Date: July 30, 2019
Conference Session: M2C: Learning by Design 2
Tagged Topic: FYEE Conference - Paper Submission
Page Count: 7
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--33699
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/33699
Download Count: 218

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Haolin Zhu Arizona State University

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Dr. Haolin Zhu earned her BEng in Engineering Mechanics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and her Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Cornell University, with a focus on computational solid mechanics. After receiving her Ph.D., Dr. Zhu joined Arizona State University as a full time Lecturer and became part of the freshman engineering education team in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. She currently holds the title of Senior Lecturer and is the recipient of the Fulton Outstanding Lecturer Award. She focuses on designing the curriculum and teaching in the freshman engineering program. She is also involved in the NAE Grand Challenge Scholars Program, the ASU ProMod project, the Engineering Projects in Community Service program, the Engineering Futures program, the Global Freshman Academy, and the ASU Kern Project. Dr. Zhu also designs and teaches courses in mechanical engineering at ASU, including Mechanics of Materials, Mechanical Design, Mechanism Analysis and Design, Finite Element Analysis, etc. She was part of a team that designed a largely team and activity based online Introduction to Engineering course, as well as a team that developed a unique MOOC introduction to engineering course for the Global Freshman Academy. Her Ph.D. research focuses on multi-scale multiphase modeling and numerical analysis of coupled large viscoelastic deformation and fluid transport in swelling porous materials, but she is currently interested in various topics in the field of engineering education, such as innovative teaching pedagogies for increased retention and student motivation; innovations in non-traditional delivery methods, incorporation of the Entrepreneurial Mindset in the engineering curriculum and its impact.

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Abstract

Can a First Day Activity Help Raise Customer Awareness, an Important Attribute of an Entrepreneurially Minded Engineer?

This abstract for a full paper describes an Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) infused first day team based hands-on design activity for the introduction to engineering course and its effectiveness at raising customer awareness. During the recent years, many institutions across the nation have joined the Kern Entrepreneurial Education Network (KEEN) that aims to promote entrepreneurial mindset in engineering education [1]. The attributes of an entrepreneurially minded engineer depicted by KEEN involves technical skillset, customer awareness, business acumen, and societal value [2]. Quite a few authors have also emphasized the importance of incorporating customers in course activities especially design projects in order to instill the entrepreneurial mindset in the curriculum [3-5].

In an effort to incorporate the entrepreneurial mindset into the introduction to engineering course, a first day team based hands-on design activity was developed, among many other activities and projects. And it was implemented during the fall 2018 semester in a section of the course with 37 students during the first lab before students were introduced to any topics or concepts. The activity involves two rounds. Most teams failed to consider who the customers and what their needs were and created designs based on their own assumptions about the problem. Designs were tested at the end of the first round and to students’ surprising, what they thought would be great designs turned out to be not successful. Discussions led to students realizing why their designs did not work. During the second round, students properly identified customer needs and created new designs to address customer needs.

Can this first day activity help raise customer awareness, an important attribute of an entrepreneurially minded engineer in first year students? To answer this question, a survey was conducted prior to the activity to gauge students’ understanding of how to approach design problems. Not surprisingly, only one out of thirty one students who provided consent to participate mentioned ‘one would have to question and research those who are affected by the problem’ in their pre-survey response. After the first lab, students individually submitted reflections about their first lab experience and these reflections were analyzed. It was found out that twenty four out of the thirty one students mentioned the importance of asking customers questions and learning about their needs without being prompted to talk about customers. Out of these twenty four students, eleven mentioned this in more than one places in their reflections.

In the full paper, the activity will be described and the findings will be presented. Tips to successfully implement this activity will also be discussed and suggested changes will be shared.

References

[1] https://engineeringunleashed.com/

[2] Kriewall, T. J., and K. Mekemson. 2010. Instilling the entrepreneurial mindset into engineering undergraduates, Journal of Engineering Entrepreneurship no. 1 (1):5–19.

[3] Gerhart, A. L., & Melton, D. E. (2016, June), Entrepreneurially Minded Learning: Incorporating Stakeholders, Discovery, Opportunity Identification, and Value Creation into Problem-Based Learning Modules with Examples and Assessment Specific to Fluid Mechanics, Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26724

[4] Bell-Huff, C., & Morano, H. L. (2017, June), Using Simulation Experiences, Real Customers, and Outcome Driven Innovation to Foster Empathy and an Entrepreneurial Mindset in a Sophomore Engineering Design Studio, Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. https://peer.asee.org/27425

[5] Zhu, H., & Mertz, B. E. (2017, June), Work In Progress: Incorporation of the Entrepreneurial Mindset into the Introduction to Engineering Course, Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. https://peer.asee.org/29164

Citation
Format

Zhu, H. (2019, July), Full Paper: Can a First Day Activity Help Raise Customer Awareness, an Important Attribute of an Entrepreneurially Minded Engineer? Paper presented at 2019 FYEE Conference , Penn State University , Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--33699

TY - CPAPER
AB - Can a First Day Activity Help Raise Customer Awareness, an Important Attribute of an Entrepreneurially Minded Engineer?

This abstract for a full paper describes an Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) infused first day team based hands-on design activity for the introduction to engineering course and its effectiveness at raising customer awareness. During the recent years, many institutions across the nation have joined the Kern Entrepreneurial Education Network (KEEN) that aims to promote entrepreneurial mindset in engineering education [1]. The attributes of an entrepreneurially minded engineer depicted by KEEN involves technical skillset, customer awareness, business acumen, and societal value [2]. Quite a few authors have also emphasized the importance of incorporating customers in course activities especially design projects in order to instill the entrepreneurial mindset in the curriculum [3-5].

In an effort to incorporate the entrepreneurial mindset into the introduction to engineering course, a first day team based hands-on design activity was developed, among many other activities and projects. And it was implemented during the fall 2018 semester in a section of the course with 37 students during the first lab before students were introduced to any topics or concepts. The activity involves two rounds. Most teams failed to consider who the customers and what their needs were and created designs based on their own assumptions about the problem. Designs were tested at the end of the first round and to students’ surprising, what they thought would be great designs turned out to be not successful. Discussions led to students realizing why their designs did not work. During the second round, students properly identified customer needs and created new designs to address customer needs.

Can this first day activity help raise customer awareness, an important attribute of an entrepreneurially minded engineer in first year students? To answer this question, a survey was conducted prior to the activity to gauge students’ understanding of how to approach design problems. Not surprisingly, only one out of thirty one students who provided consent to participate mentioned ‘one would have to question and research those who are affected by the problem’ in their pre-survey response. After the first lab, students individually submitted reflections about their first lab experience and these reflections were analyzed. It was found out that twenty four out of the thirty one students mentioned the importance of asking customers questions and learning about their needs without being prompted to talk about customers. Out of these twenty four students, eleven mentioned this in more than one places in their reflections.

In the full paper, the activity will be described and the findings will be presented. Tips to successfully implement this activity will also be discussed and suggested changes will be shared.

References

[1] https://engineeringunleashed.com/

[2] Kriewall, T. J., and K. Mekemson. 2010. Instilling the entrepreneurial mindset into engineering undergraduates, Journal of Engineering Entrepreneurship no. 1 (1):5–19.

[3] Gerhart, A. L., &amp; Melton, D. E. (2016, June), Entrepreneurially Minded Learning: Incorporating Stakeholders, Discovery, Opportunity Identification, and Value Creation into Problem-Based Learning Modules with Examples and Assessment Specific to Fluid Mechanics, Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference &amp; Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26724

[4] Bell-Huff, C., &amp; Morano, H. L. (2017, June), Using Simulation Experiences, Real Customers, and Outcome Driven Innovation to Foster Empathy and an Entrepreneurial Mindset in a Sophomore Engineering Design Studio, Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference &amp; Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. https://peer.asee.org/27425

[5] Zhu, H., &amp; Mertz, B. E. (2017, June), Work In Progress: Incorporation of the Entrepreneurial Mindset into the Introduction to Engineering Course, Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference &amp; Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. https://peer.asee.org/29164

AU - Haolin Zhu
CY - Penn State University , Pennsylvania
DA - 2019/07/28
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Full Paper: Can a First Day Activity Help Raise Customer Awareness, an Important Attribute of an Entrepreneurially Minded Engineer?
UR - https://peer.asee.org/33699
DO - 10.18260/1-2--33699
ER -