scholarly journals Service Learning Versus Traditional Project-Based Learning: A Comparison Study in a First Year Industrial and Systems Engineering Course

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Scherrer ◽  
Jennifer Sharpe
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Management Communication ◽  
Professional Career ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Real Community ◽  
Service Learning Projects

Service learning involves solving a real community problem while meeting course learning outcomes. Participation in service learning is hypothesized to improve undergraduate student engagement and retention, but little research has been done to measure its impact specifically on beginning engineering students. This study compares two sections of an introduction to industrial and systems engineering course; one with a service learning term project and one with a traditional project-based term project. The service learning project was designed to be a hands-on approach to the material in the project management, communication, and teamwork modules of the course, in addition to giving students the opportunity to practice industrial and systems engineering functions related to their community partner’s defined problem. Surveys, grade data and interviews provide evidence that service learning projects improved students’ perceptions of their preparation for a successful academic and professional career and also lend limited support to improved engagement and retention in engineering compared to the students in the traditional project section.

Ten Years of Positive Feedback on Project-Based Learning From First-Year Engineering Students’ Perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela C. Alves ◽  
Francisco Moreira ◽  
Celina P. Leão ◽  
Sandra Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Case Scenario ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Student Centered Learning ◽  
Continuous Improvement Process ◽  
On Line

Abstract Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an active student-centered learning methodology. Several schools (of varying degrees of education) have implemented, in different ways, PBL, having as common strands that the student learns in teams, and being challenged in the context of a case-scenario. In Portugal, a PBL methodology has been implemented, in the first year of an Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) program, for more than 15 years. This represents a total number above 700 students of IEM enrolled in PBL during the reported timeframe. A continuous improvement process of the PBL activities was relentlessly pursued during such period. Grounded on end-of-term on-line PBL process satisfaction questionnaires, as well as on results of each PBL edition final workshops, this paper studies and reports on a number of such achievements and shortcomings. Thus, this paper presents the analysis of the results of ten academic years of PBL evaluation process, grounded on the compiled results obtained from 2009/10 to 2019/20. Also, a synthesis of the effective findings (either positive or negative), systematically pointed out by the students, will be presented. Altogether, the PBL implementation in the IEM program has been very positive for students and teachers and worth for others to follow.

Project-Based Learning for First-Year Engineering Students: Design of CO2 Sequestration

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
P R Neal ◽  
M Ho ◽  
G Fimbres-Weihs ◽  
F Hussain ◽  
Y Cinar
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Sequestration ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
First Year

Project-Based Learning: Microfluidic Lab-on-a-Chip Point-of-Care Medical Tests for Engineering Undergraduates

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G. Mauk ◽  
Richard Y. Chiou ◽  
Carlos Ruiz ◽  
Dharma Varapula ◽  
Changchun Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Lab On A Chip ◽  
Medical Diagnostics ◽  
Green Technology ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Microfluidic Chips

Point-of-care (POC) medical diagnostics tests based on instrumented microfluidic chips are instructive and highly-multidisciplinary projects for undergraduate research and Senior Design. Students can apply their knowledge of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, optics, electronics and microcontrollers, materials, prototyping and systems engineering in translating and adapting a laboratory-based test for use in non-traditional venues. We discuss the design, prototyping, and testing of POC lab-on-a-chip (LOC) systems in an educational setting, where undergraduate students develop and demonstrate novel and practical POC tests. This application area serves as an effective gateway to the medical diagnostics field for engineering students, with opportunities for providing sustainable, appropriate, and ‘green’ technology to the developing world where healthcare infrastructure is lacking.

Effective NEMS Education and Training in an Undergraduate Course

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nael Barakat ◽  
Heidi Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Engineering Level ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Manufacturing Techniques ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Micro Systems

Increasing demand on workforce for nanotechnology implementation has resulted in an exponential increase of demand on educational material and methods to qualify this workforce. However, nanotechnology is a field that integrates many areas of science and engineering requiring a significant amount of background knowledge in both theory and application to build upon. This challenge is significantly magnified when trying to teach nanotechnology concepts and applications at the undergraduate engineering level. A considerable amount of time is needed for an undergraduate engineering student to be able to design and build a useful device applying nanotechnology concepts, within one course time. This paper presents an actual experience in teaching hands-on applications in nanotechnology to undergraduate engineering students through an optimized model, within a normal course time. The model significantly reduces the time needed by undergraduate students to learn the necessary manufacturing techniques and apply them to produce useful products at the micro and nano levels, by ensuring that infrastructure and legwork related to the educational process are partially completed and verified, before the course starts. The model also provides improved outcomes as all its pre-course work is also tested with students working under different arrangements of professors’ supervision. The result is an optimized infrastructure setup for micro and nanotechnology design and manufacturing education, built with students in mind, to be completed within the frame of one semester course. The model was implemented at GVSU-SOE as the core hands-on part of a senior undergraduate course titled (EGR 457 nano/micro systems engineering). Students in the course were able to go through the design and build steps of different MEMS and NEMS products, while learning and utilizing cleanroom equipment and procedures. This was based on infrastructural arrangements by students preceding this class by a semester and working closely with the professors. Assessment was conducted on both sides of the model and results were collected for evaluation and improvement of the model.

Enhancing Engineering Learning Experience at UTB by Freshmen iHOP

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazmul Islam
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Real World ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Team Selection ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Lower Division

Most of the engineering courses focus more on theory and very little on hands-on, project-based learning in the classroom. Integration of real-world engineering problems and applications in lower division engineering courses will produce engineering students, who will be technically sound and be able to execute and manage real-world projects, when they will do senior design projects in their final year of engineering study. To overcome the engineering design challenges we have developed iHOP (Ingenieŕia Hands on Project) and integrate it with our lower division engineering courses. iHOP has been developed to emphasis the design component at the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) Engineering Physics curriculum and the project is now an integral part of Introduction to Engineering class. The iHOP project is one that is challenging, fun, requires teamwork, associated with the engineering material being studied, low cost, and doable in a limited amount of time. The experience from iHOP project motivates our freshman students to choose a better senior design project in senior year of their college career. The objectives of the iHOP projects are — to have students develop teamwork skills, and to teach students basic engineering design concepts in a complementary format to the traditional lecture. Various techniques related to team selection, encouraging teamwork, incorporation of engineering topics, keeping costs down, project results presentations, and gathering feedback from students will also be presented in this paper. Integrating iHOP Project with Introduction to Engineering class helped us to improve our retention effort in the engineering department.

Sustainable and Renewable Energy Undergraduate Research

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radian Belu ◽  
Richard Chiou ◽  
Tzu-Liang (Bill) Tseng
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Experimental Result ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Hands On

Energy is a continuous driving force for the social and technological prospective developments and a vital and essential ingredient for all human transactions. The world is facing an energy “crisis”, due to limited fossil fuel resources, growing energy demand and population. All these facts led to and increased interests in renewable energy sources and green manufacturing. Equipping engineering students with the skills and knowledge required to be successful global engineers in the 21st century is one of the primary objectives of academic educators. Enabling students to practice self-directed learning, find design solutions that are sustainable, and helping them recognize that they are part of a global community are just of few of our educational goals. Project-based learning provides the contextual environment making learning exciting and relevant, providing opportunities to explore technical problems from systems-level perspectives, with an appreciation for the inter-connectedness of science principles. The quest for knowledge is the driving force behind education no matter what field is being studied. This means a lot of reading from textbooks, completion of assignments, exams, lectures but quite little of this work involves original research. Active research experience is one of the most effective ways to attract and retain talented undergraduates in science and engineering. At our institutions, we are regularly modifying curriculum content to embrace sustainability and green energy concepts in learning outcomes. However this crosses over between a numbers of multi-disciplinary, multidimensional study areas that include philosophy and ethics. Consequently a major challenge for us is to encourage engineering students whose primary focus is purely technical to include sustainability and renewable energy topics in their designs. To join into this effort of equipping the future engineers and technologists with renewable energy background, we developed a set of project-based courses related to these topics and include them also in our senior project design course sequence. The main objectives of these curricula changes are to provide students with theoretical and practical knowledge reinforced by hands-on experience. These projects are also good examples of multi-disciplinary cooperation of different engineering disciplines as well as providing valuable hands-on and research experience. This paper presents the changes in the course structure, sample of projects, student survey of the course, as well as plans and expectations for future success. We are also discussing here the project team structure, plan and management, component selection, system simulation, and experimental result.

scholarly journals Students’ perceptions of the project based on the potential of their region: A Project-based learning implementation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 295
Author(s):  
Syahril Syahril ◽  
Rahmat Azis Nabawi ◽  
Dian Safitri
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Method ◽  
Interpersonal Skills ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Skills Acquisition ◽  
Ability To Work ◽  
Management Communication ◽  
Method Approach

Developing engineering students whose ability to work and make a real contribution to the development of technology can be done not only after they have graduated from college but also when they are still in college. One of the strategies is by implementing project-based learning with the project based on the potential of the student's region. This study aims to reveal students’ perceptions of learning and soft skills acquisition toward the implementation of the strategy to answer whether the project is effective to implement. This study was conducted on fifty-one Indonesian college students who took Mechanical Drawing course. It belongs to a one-shot case study with mixed-method approach. The result shows that the project based on the potential of the student’s region is effective to raise their perception of motivation, interest, real-world, very beneficial, learning more lecture and enjoyable so that they learn more actively and provide more time to study. It also develops students’ soft skills, including teamwork, project management, communication, and interpersonal skills. The results may have pedagogical implications in improving learning quality in Mechanical Drawing course by enriching project references used in implementing project-based learning. Furthermore, the project given can be a solution in developing the potential of the students’ regions.

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