Virtual Conference
July 26, 2021
July 26, 2021
July 19, 2022
Aerospace
16
10.18260/1-2--37569
https://peer.asee.org/37569
331
Waterloo Tsutsui, Ph.D., P.E., is a Lecturer and Lab Coordinator in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University. Tsutsui's research interests are energy storage systems, multifunctional structures and materials design, fatigue and fracture, and scholarship of teaching and learning. Before Purdue, Tsutsui was an engineer in the automotive industry for more than 10 years.
Eric Williamson is a rising senior student at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, majoring in aeronautical and astronautical engineering with a focus on astrodynamics and space applications. He is interested in researching improvements in engineering education and their applications to curriculum.
Kenneth Park is an undergraduate student studying Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University. He enjoys exploring how data visualization can be used to aid in education by providing meaningful and inventive ways for students to interact with data.
Michael D. Sangid received his B.S. (2002) and M.S. (2005) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). After his Master’s degree, Dr. Sangid spent two years working in Indianapolis, IN for Rolls-Royce Corporation, specializing in material characterization, fatigue, fracture, and creep of high temperature aerospace materials before resuming his education in 2007. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from UIUC in 2010 and continued as a post-doctoral associate. In the spring of 2012, Dr. Sangid started as an assistant professor at Purdue University in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics with a courtesy appointment in Materials Engineering, where he continues his work on building computational materials models for failure of structural materials with experimental validation efforts focused at characterization of the stress/strain evolution at the microstructural scale during in situ loading. He is a recipient of the TMS Young Leaders Award, the ASME Orr Award, TMS Early Career Faculty Fellow, the NSF CAREER Award, and the AFOSR, ONR, and DARPA Young Investigator/Faculty Awards.
We implemented Virtual Labs as a tool to assist students in familiarizing themselves with the hands-on lab in aerospace structural mechanics. Subsequently, we learned that Virtual Labs also allowed students to collect virtual data that prompted students to further reflect during the data analysis process in addition to the data obtained during the hands-on labs. Thus, the course provided students with both virtual and hands-on experiences to enhance their understanding of the subject matter. At the same time, the course promoted the learning of data analysis, modeling, equipment usage, error analysis, teamwork, and communication by engaging the students in both the virtual and hands-on labs. In Spring 2020, we experienced an extraordinary event: the school closures and remote learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, Virtual Labs became the only available means to provide instructional labs to the enrolled students since all students were sent home. That is, the school closures made us change the way that we used Virtual Labs and necessitated us to modify the course delivery method so that the lab courses could be performed fully online. Therefore, in this paper, we explained how the transition took place in the aerospace structures lab for the use of Virtual Labs before, during, and after the COVID-19 school closures. Then, we discussed lessons learned during this period. This paper will be a useful reference for engineering educators who seek to implement or integrate virtual technology into their pedagogy.
Tsutsui, W., & Williamson, E. J., & Park, K., & Sangid, M. D. (2021, July), Pedagogy Improvement in Aerospace Structures Education Using Virtual Labs: Before, During, and After the COVID-19 School Closures and Remote Learning Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--37569
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