Work in Progress: Experiences Utilizing Engineering Design Projects in Early Curricular Engineering Courses at a Hispanic-serving Institution

David Hicks; Michael Preuss; Matthew Alexander; Rajashekar Mogiligidda; Mahesh Hosur

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: DEED Technical Session 2: Postcard Session
Page Count: 12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40988
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40988
Download Count: 337

Paper Authors

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David Hicks

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David Hicks is an Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Previously he served as Associate Professor and Department Head at Aalborg University in Esbjerg, Denmark. He has also held positions in research labs in the U.S. as well as Europe, and spent time as a researcher in the software industry.

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Michael Preuss

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Michael Preuss, EdD, is the Co-founder and Lead Consultant for Exquiri Consulting, LLC. His primary focus is providing assistance to grant project teams in planning and development, through external evaluation, and as publication support. Most of his work is on STEM education and advancement projects and completed for Minority-Serving Institutions. He also conducts research regarding higher education focused on the needs and interests of underserved populations and advancing understanding of Minority-Serving Institutions.

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Matthew Alexander Texas A&M University - Kingsville

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Dr. Matthew is an associate professor in Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University-Kingsville

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Rajashekar Mogiligidda Texas A&M University - Kingsville

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Mahesh Hosur

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Abstract

An ongoing NSF sponsored project at Texas A&M University-Kingsville has focused on increasing the rates of retention and persistence among students in the College of Engineering, especially for minority and underrepresented students in engineering fields. Emphasis has been placed on courses taken by students early in the engineering curricula. In particular the freshmen introductory engineering courses taught within three departments have been augmented to include an engaging, team-based, hands-on engineering design project. This paper describes the design projects utilized in the most recent offering of the enhanced introductory engineering courses within each department, including improvements based on previous course feedback. A look at preliminary results and observations is provided along with a comparison to results observed from previous course offerings. The paper also reports survey results measuring students’ perceptions of their abilities, confidence, and knowledge in general engineering problem solving tasks both before and after the augmented introductory engineering courses.

The introductory course taught to chemical, natural gas, and several mechanical engineering students included a project for water treatment to remove an organic contaminant. Teams of 3 to 4 students were challenged with researching methods for low-level organics removal from water, and then investigating treatment efficacy via laboratory testing. At semester end, the students prepared a design report and presented their work. Improvements and updates made to the design project over prior years included the use of refractive index for quantifying organic contaminant concentrations, and the addition of a research component and additional class time to the project.

The introductory course taught to computer science and electrical engineering students integrated a robot building team project and class competition. Teams of 3 to 4 students were given the task of assembling a three-wheeled robot chassis, including a small credit-card sized computer board, and then coding a basic line following guidance program. At the end of the semester a competition was held to determine which team’s robot could successfully navigate a designated path in the shortest time. Improvements and updates made to the design project included adding more coverage of the Python programming language, which teams used in coding their robot guidance programs, and devoting additional class time to project work.

The introductory course taught to mechanical and industrial engineering students included a project on 3D modeling and 3D printing and another focused on reverse engineering. Teams of 3 to 4 students were given the task of designing a 3D model on SolidWorks, and 3D printing it using an FDM technology 3D printer. The second project involved students disassembling a product, and then designing all the parts and performing assembly of the product on a 3D modeling software. At the end of the semester, the students prepared a design report and presented their work. Improvements and updates made to the design projects over prior years included the use of interference detection when 3D modeling, and more coverage was given to the clearances and supports for 3D printers.

Pre- and post-participation surveys facilitated assessment of student understanding of engineering processes, in class project implementation, teamwork, and general learning and learning specific to each of the hands-on projects. While these represent an initial sample and, as a result should not be generalized, they provide insight into student experience and learning.

Citation
Format

Hicks, D., & Preuss, M., & Alexander, M., & Mogiligidda, R., & Hosur, M. (2022, August), Work in Progress: Experiences Utilizing Engineering Design Projects in Early Curricular Engineering Courses at a Hispanic-serving Institution Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40988

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - An ongoing NSF sponsored project at Texas A&M University-Kingsville has focused on increasing the rates of retention and persistence among students in the College of Engineering, especially for minority and underrepresented students in engineering fields.  Emphasis has been placed on courses taken by students early in the engineering curricula.  In particular the freshmen introductory engineering courses taught within three departments have been augmented to include an engaging, team-based, hands-on engineering design project.  This paper describes the design projects utilized in the most recent offering of the enhanced introductory engineering courses within each department, including improvements based on previous course feedback.  A look at preliminary results and observations is provided along with a comparison to results observed from previous course offerings.  The paper also reports survey results measuring students’ perceptions of their abilities, confidence, and knowledge in general engineering problem solving tasks both before and after the augmented introductory engineering courses. 

The introductory course taught to chemical, natural gas, and several mechanical engineering students included a project for water treatment to remove an organic contaminant.  Teams of 3 to 4 students were challenged with researching methods for low-level organics removal from water, and then investigating treatment efficacy via laboratory testing.  At semester end, the students prepared a design report and presented their work.  Improvements and updates made to the design project over prior years included the use of refractive index for quantifying organic contaminant concentrations, and the addition of a research component and additional class time to the project. 

The introductory course taught to computer science and electrical engineering students integrated a robot building team project and class competition.  Teams of 3 to 4 students were given the task of assembling a three-wheeled robot chassis, including a small credit-card sized computer board, and then coding a basic line following guidance program.  At the end of the semester a competition was held to determine which team’s robot could successfully navigate a designated path in the shortest time.  Improvements and updates made to the design project included adding more coverage of the Python programming language, which teams used in coding their robot guidance programs, and devoting additional class time to project work.  

The introductory course taught to mechanical and industrial engineering students included a project on 3D modeling and 3D printing and another focused on reverse engineering. Teams of 3 to 4 students were given the task of designing a 3D model on SolidWorks, and 3D printing it using an FDM technology 3D printer. The second project involved students disassembling a product, and then designing all the parts and performing assembly of the product on a 3D modeling software. At the end of the semester, the students prepared a design report and presented their work. Improvements and updates made to the design projects over prior years included the use of interference detection when 3D modeling, and more coverage was given to the clearances and supports for 3D printers.

Pre- and post-participation surveys facilitated assessment of student understanding of engineering processes, in class project implementation, teamwork, and general learning and learning specific to each of the hands-on projects. While these represent an initial sample and, as a result should not be generalized, they provide insight into student experience and learning.

AU  - David Hicks
AU  - Michael Preuss
AU  - Matthew Alexander
AU  - Rajashekar Mogiligidda
AU  - Mahesh Hosur
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Work in Progress: Experiences Utilizing Engineering Design Projects in Early Curricular Engineering Courses at a Hispanic-serving Institution
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/40988
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--40988
ER  -