Full Paper: Tinkering and Making to Engage Students in a First-Year Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Course

Micah Lande

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Publication Date: July 28, 2024
Start Date: July 28, 2024
End Date: July 30, 2024
Page Count: 10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--48606
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48606
Download Count: 73

Paper Authors

biography

Micah Lande South Dakota School of Mines and Technology orcid.org/0000-0003-4964-5654

visit author page

Micah Lande, PhD is an Assistant Professor and E.R. Stensaas Chair for Engineering Education in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Dr. Lande directs the Holistic Engineering Learning Lab and Observatory. He teaches human-centered engineering design, design thinking, and design innovation courses. Dr. Lande researches how technical and non-technical people learn and apply design thinking and making processes to their work. He is interested in the intersection of designerly epistemic identities and vocational pathways. Dr. Lande received his B.S. in Engineering (Product Design), M.A. in Education (Learning, Design and Technology) and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Design Education) from Stanford University.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

This is a full paper that introduces a tinkering- and maker-based approach to engaging first-year students in an introduction to mechanical engineering course.

Engineering students should get right into building and making. Much of what they will learn across the undergraduate engineering curriculum is about building (learning CAD tools, manufacturing processes) as well as analyzing built things or the characteristics/behaviors of physical phenomena (many of their engineering sciences courses).

In teaching an introductory engineering course to our first-year students, there is both the need to address the array of (broad) topics across engineering and get students excited about their major. By introducing a collaborative making project very early in the course, the hope is to get students excited, introduce them to working collaboratively and creatively to solve problems, and make some implicit link making connections and spurring curiosity.

The general approach to using tinkering and making as pedagogy is to 1) introduce a topic with a simple hands-on activity that can be done in the classroom in 30 minutes, 2) send the remainder of the class period discussing and debriefing, 3) follow up with specific technical content related to activity, 4) bridge to a more in-depth design challenge.

This is also to encourage tinkering and making/thinking through materials with a number of considerations: what is success in this challenge, how to work through a creative design process, and how to balance a number of systems considerations (materials, time, role/jobs of people during the short demonstration window).

With a making- and design-based approach the ambition is to make it more fun and worthwhile for students as well as help the instructor enjoy teaching the course/coach students through the design process, making skills, and applying those learning to solve problems that they care about. By tinkering, it is meant to start by showing students the basics (of some area of engineering fundamentals, of making) and expect them to then take that knowledge and skills further through exploration by imagining and building a physical solution, in an interactive and reflective way.

Project based and design challenges are pedagogical approaches that can really engage and excite students. For a 1st year introduction to engineering course, we aim to bring making through hands-on design projects/challenges throughout the semester in small chunks (2-3 weeks).

In our paper we will provide additional areas with associated introductory activities and design challenges: mechanics of structures, material and manufacturing, and fluids engineering.

There is a cluster of learning goals that are overarching these sets of activities: applying a creative problem-solving design process, design under constraints (materials, time, tools), collaborate in teams, empirically explore a specific engineering phenomenon, and have fun.

Citation
Format

Lande, M. (2024, July), Full Paper: Tinkering and Making to Engage Students in a First-Year Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Course Paper presented at 15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE), Boston, Massachusetts. 10.18260/1-2--48606

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This is a full paper that introduces a tinkering- and maker-based approach to engaging first-year students in an introduction to mechanical engineering course.

Engineering students should get right into building and making. Much of what they will learn across the undergraduate engineering curriculum is about building (learning CAD tools, manufacturing processes) as well as analyzing built things or the characteristics/behaviors of physical phenomena (many of their engineering sciences courses).

In teaching an introductory engineering course to our first-year students, there is both the need to address the array of (broad) topics across engineering and get students excited about their major. By introducing a collaborative making project very early in the course, the hope is to get students excited, introduce them to working collaboratively and creatively to solve problems, and make some implicit link making connections and spurring curiosity.

The general approach to using tinkering and making as pedagogy is to 1) introduce a topic with a simple hands-on activity that can be done in the classroom in 30 minutes, 2) send the remainder of the class period discussing and debriefing, 3) follow up with specific technical content related to activity, 4) bridge to a more in-depth design challenge.

This is also to encourage tinkering and making/thinking through materials with a number of considerations: what is success in this challenge, how to work through a creative design process, and how to balance a number of systems considerations (materials, time, role/jobs of people during the short demonstration window).

With a making- and design-based approach the ambition is to make it more fun and worthwhile for students as well as help the instructor enjoy teaching the course/coach students through the design process, making skills, and applying those learning to solve problems that they care about. By tinkering, it is meant to start by showing students the basics (of some area of engineering fundamentals, of making) and expect them to then take that knowledge and skills further through exploration by imagining and building a physical solution, in an interactive and reflective way.

Project based and design challenges are pedagogical approaches that can really engage and excite students. For a 1st year introduction to engineering course, we aim to bring making through hands-on design projects/challenges throughout the semester in small chunks (2-3 weeks).

In our paper we will provide additional areas with associated introductory activities and design challenges: mechanics of structures, material and manufacturing, and fluids engineering.

There is a cluster of learning goals that are overarching these sets of activities: applying a creative problem-solving design process, design under constraints (materials, time, tools), collaborate in teams, empirically explore a specific engineering phenomenon, and have fun.

AU  - Micah Lande
CY  - Boston, Massachusetts
DA  - 2024/07/28
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Full Paper: Tinkering and Making to Engage Students in a First-Year Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/48606
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--48606
ER  -