Multi Dimensional And Interactive Learning Model For Introduction To Mechanical Engineering
- Conference
- Location
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Honolulu, Hawaii
- Publication Date
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June 24, 2007
- Start Date
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June 24, 2007
- End Date
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June 27, 2007
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Mechanical Engineering
- Page Count
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12
- Page Numbers
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12.1084.1 - 12.1084.12
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--1722
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/1722
- Download Count
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557
Paper Authors
Amir Jokar Washington State University-Vancouver
Amir Jokar is an Assistant Professor of the School of Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University Vancouver. Prior to WSU Vancouver, he was a research assistant professor at Kansas State University where he earned his Ph.D. degree in May 2004. His general research area is in thermal/fluid sciences with more background in micro/mini-channel heat transfer and fluid flow, thermal system design and simulation, two-phase flow, condensation and evaporation. His other areas of interest include electronics cooling/thermal management and microfluidic/thermal devices.
Hakan Gurocak Washington State University-Vancouver
Hakan Gurocak is Director of School of Engineering and Computer Science and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Washington State University Vancouver. His research interests are robotics, automation, fuzzy logic, technology assisted distance delivery of laboratory courses and haptic interfaces for virtual reality.
Dave Kim Washington State University-Vancouver
Dr. Dave (Dae-Wook) Kim is an Assistant Professor of School of Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University Vancouver. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle, and his M.S. and B.S. at Sungkyunkwan University, Korea. His teaching and research interests include manufacturing processes, composite materials, and mechanical behavior of engineered materials.
Xiaolin Chen Washington State University-Vancouver
Xiaolin (Linda) Chen is an Assistant Professor of School of Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University Vancouver. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and her M.S. and B.S. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. Her teaching and research interests include computational mechanics, finite element, boundary element methods, and advanced materials simulations.
Hamid Rad Washington State University-Vancouver
Hamid Rad is a faculty member in Mechanical Engineering Department at Washington State University-Vancouver. He received his Ph.D. from Oregon State University, M.S. from Virginia Tech. and B.S. from University of New Haven. His areas of specialty and interest are solid mechanics, mechanical design, dynamic systems, mechanism design, and finite element analysis.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Multi-dimensional and Interactive Learning Model for Introduction to Mechanical Engineering
Introduction
Many engineering curricula around the world traditionally include a course on introduction to engineering at the freshmen level. In most engineering schools such a course covers a general introduction to all engineering disciplines.
This year for the first time we admitted freshmen into our new mechanical engineering program at Washington State University Vancouver. Furthermore, mechanical engineering is the only engineering program on our campus. As a result, it was necessary to develop Mech 101 “Introduction to Mechanical Engineering” course. A multi-dimensional and interactive learning approach was taken in teaching this course. The method integrated the following components:
• Multi-instructor teaching; several faculty members held lectures and lab sessions to introduce sub-disciplines of mechanical engineering; including: thermal/fluid engineering, control, automation, and robotics, materials and manufacturing, computer-aided engineering, and machine design. • Engineering software skills; an introductory software called Working Model 2D, was taught and practiced in class in order to be used for solving real-world engineering problems, and to be used in individual or group design projects later in the semester. • Design project competition; a design project, entitled “Water-Powered Vehicle”, with a competition at the end was used as a motivation tool to instill critical thinking and creativeness. The twenty one enrolled students were divided into seven teams and each team was given a one-liter bottle of drinking water to use it as the only source of input energy to run the vehicle as far, fast, and straight as possible. Student teams first designed their prototypes using the Working Model software and later built and test them for the competition. • Engineering problem solving; about one-third of the course schedule was spent on solving real-world engineering problems in different sub-disciplines of mechanical engineering through case-studies; including: systems of units, unit conversions, forces in structures, stress and strain, fluidic systems, thermal systems, motion, power transmission, design of machines. • Soft-skills in engineering; each faculty member introduced ethical and contemporary issues related to their sub-discipline as part of their lectures. Furthermore, these subjects were discussed throughout the semester in lively class discussions. • Industry tours; in order to provide a real-world picture of mechanical engineering practice, industry tours were scheduled. Companies were selected to showcase a spectrum of activities from small-size device manufacturing to heavy equipment manufacturing, to demonstrate the broad field of mechanical engineering.
In this paper, first the course strategies and outline are described. Then, details of the course activities as well as other social and informative activities are presented. Finally, conclusions and the lessons learned are described.
Jokar, A., & Gurocak, H., & Kim, D., & Chen, X., & Rad, H. (2007, June), Multi Dimensional And Interactive Learning Model For Introduction To Mechanical Engineering Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--1722
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