Session Number 2533
PROJECT BASED LEARNING OF
ENERGY CONVERSION PRINCIPLES
AT FRESHMAN LEVEL
Oguz A. Soysal
Department of Physics and Engineering
Frostburg State University
Abstract
The paper presents the educational outcomes of the freshman design project titled “Wind
Power Plant to Supply a Public Transportation System at a Ski Resort.” The topic was
selected to help students understand energy conversion principles by hands on
experience. Students also had a chance to see different aspects of the engineering
profession, and they developed teamwork and leadership skills. The paper discusses the
features of the freshman design course, progress of the project, assessment results, and
classroom observations obtained in 2001-fall semester.
Introduction
“Introduction to Engineering Design (ENES 100)” is offered for freshman students
interested in engineering and physics majors at Frostburg State University (FSU). The
design topic adopted in one section of ENES 100 in Fall 2001 was entitled “Wind Power
Plant to Supply a Public Transportation System at a Ski Resort”. The main goal was to
help students understand better fundamental energy concepts they learn in the first
introductory physics course as well as providing a general overview of the design and
product development process. The selected “real-life example” gave the students an
opportunity to apply physical concepts to practice by considering economical and social
issues. Throughout the design project, basic principles of electromechanical energy
conversion, conservation, and storage principles were introduced.
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.1
In most electrical engineering programs, energy conversion topics are covered in junior
or senior level electives. As the interest in electronics, communication, and computer
technology has continuously grown over at least four decades, the enrollment in power
related electives in electrical engineering programs has drastically decreased.
Consequently, the majority of electrical engineering students graduate without taking any
particular course that discusses energy conversion and conservation issues. Energy
problems lately experienced in the West has generated public concern about energy
production, consumption, and conservation issues. The selected design project also
stimulated students’ interest, awareness, and critical thinking on energy issues in their
very first engineering course.
This paper discusses classroom observations and educational outcomes of the freshman
design experience in terms of students’ learning, interest, and motivation. The following
section outlines the “Introduction to Engineering Design” course. Then, the project topic
is described and student activities to perform actual size design calculations and to build a
scaled model of the wind power system are presented. Finally, assessment and evaluation
results are discussed.
Outline of the Course
ENES 100 “Introduction to Engineering Design” is a 3-credit course offered as a degree
requirement for electrical engineering (EE), mechanical engineering (ME), and physics
majors at Frostburg State University (FSU). The course has been originally developed by
the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) within the Engineering Coalition of
Schools for Excellence in Education and Leadership (ECSEL) program, to "renovate
undergraduate engineering education through the infusion of design experiences across
the curriculum and to increase the diversity of the profession1”. ENES 100 took place in
the FSU catalogue in 1997, when the institution started to offer electrical and mechanical
engineering programs in collaboration with UMCP. In 1998-1999 academic year, ENES
100 was added to the degree requirements for physics majors.
The goal of the course is to improve the students’ creativity and provide an active
learning environment where students can acquire teamwork experience and practical
skills they will need during their engineering study and career. This goal is achieved by
meeting the following general course objectives:
• Learning various analysis and design methods, developing problem solving skills
• Learning hand sketching, drafting, and computer aided design (CAD) techniques
• Understanding the product realization process
• Developing teamwork skills
• Improving written and oral communication skills
• Getting an overview of the engineering profession and major engineering fields
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.2
The essential activity of the course is design and development of a particular product.
Every year, a particular project theme is selected. Students apply general design methods
they learn throughout the course to design a product, build a prototype, and perform tests
to evaluate the design. Innovative features of the course and its contribution to students’
learning experience are discussed in several papers presented at recent ASEE
meetings2,3,4. Examples of project topics selected at FSU in previous years include
Postal Scale
Human Powered Vehicles Made from Waste Paper Products
Human Powered Water Pump
Solar Powered Irrigation System for a Remote Farm4
Tennis Ball Launcher
The following criteria are usually considered in the selection of the design topic:
Introductory level physics and math knowledge should be sufficient to design and
develop the product
The product must be doable within the available time and a reasonable budget
Students should experience different phases of the design and product
development process
The selected topic should involve different fields of expertise
Students should be able to apply practical considerations such as cost, safety,
reliability, economical use of resources, and ethical issues
Because every year a different theme is selected, no single general-purpose textbook is
available to cover all technical foundation that students might need. However, the basic
concepts needed for the selected project topics are usually covered in the first course of
the introductory physics sequence. Additional information is supplied as handouts by the
instructor. For general information about product development, teamwork skills,
technical drawing, and design documentation, some sections have used the text by W. C.
Oakes5 for last two years.
Teamwork is an essential component of ENES 100, challenging for both students and
instructors. During the first few weeks, the necessity of teamwork in engineering design
and attributes of a functional team are discussed in lectures. Whereas some students
always feel more comfortable in working individually or with preferred classmates,
project teams of 4 – 6 members are formed by the instructor(s) based on criteria such as
student skills, interests, mobility, residence location, and diversity. Forming wellbalanced teams, stimulating equal participation by team members, motivating the
students to work as a successful team, and establishing fair assessment policies are tough
parts for the instructors of ENES 100.
Following discussions on teamwork and product development phases, basic hand
sketching, drafting and computer aided drawing (CAD) techniques are introduced.
Various CAD software including Pro-Engineer, AutoCAD, KeyCAD have been
implemented in more than 16 sections of ENES 100 offered at FSU for the last five years.
While the basic concepts remain the same, each software product has benefits and
drawbacks over the others. Because of the comprehensive content and other challenges of
the course, it is not reasonable to expect that students learn and practice a CAD tool at a
professional level. The main objective is, however, to introduce only the basic concepts
so students could generate simple three-view drawings and understand professional
technical documents. It is more convenient to use inexpensive introductory-level software
that students can install on their own computers rather than expensive professional CAD
tools only available in limited access computer labs or over the network.
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.3
Upon the completion of the conceptual design, students actually manufacture a prototype
or a scaled model. During the manufacturing process, they develop hands on skills and
gain practical experience by making various parts and assembling the prototype. Teams
finally present and discuss their designs in a competitive final presentation open to
public.
The particular section of ENES 100 that constitutes the subject of this paper was offered
in coordination with two other freshman courses: Principles of Physics I – Mechanics
(PHYS 261) and Introduction to Higher Education (ORIE 100). This bundle of
coordinated courses forms a Learning Community named as “Preparing for a Career in
Engineering.” The “learning community” concept has been implemented in FSU since
1998. The same group of 16 – 20 freshman students takes typically three coordinated
courses all together, participate in various joint curricular or extracurricular activities, and
submit journals about their experiences to three instructors teaching the learning
community courses. In Fall 2001, 18 students were enrolled in the engineering learning
community. The coordination between ENES 100 and PHYS 261 improves the
productivity by providing cross examples and better understanding of the relationship
between physics concepts and engineering design. ENES 100 and ORIE 100 complement
each other in various professional issues such as characteristics of good and bad designs,
teamwork, technical communication, research tools, career options, and ethics.
Lecture Topics
Introduction (Syllabus, course contents, design topic, etc.)
Teamwork skills and attributes of a successful team
Specification of the project topic
Overview of design and product development process
Visualization and engineering graphics, Free-hand sketching
Introduction to computer aided design (CAD)
Single view drawing
Line types and dimensions
Three view drawings
Exam 1
Wind turbines for electric power generation
Conventional and alternative energy sources
Electromechanical energy conversion principles
Basic concepts of wind power
Wind power calculations
Technical communication and presentation techniques
Preliminary design presentation
Review
Exam 2
Prototypes, scaled models, model building
Prototype
realization
Design Concepts
Introduction and
Background
The outline of the “Introduction to Engineering Design” section taught by the author in
Fall 2001 is shown in Table 1.
Table-1
ENES 100.908 – Fall 2001 course outline
Team meeting: understanding
the requirements
Team meeting: brainstorming
Hand drawing practice
AutoCAD practice
AutoCAD practice
AutoCAD practice
AutoCAD practice
Harvesting
(Video)
Nature’s
Power
EE Lab: Electromechanical
energy conversion experiment
ME Lab: Wind tunnel exp.
Team meeting: calculations
Model fabrication
Model fabrication
Model fabrication
Testing and evaluation
Revisions and modifications
Testing and evaluation
Engineering Design Showcase
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.4
Final Design Presentation (open to public)
Class activity
To visualize the problem, the Wisp ski resort in Western Maryland located at about 30
miles distance to FSU was chosen as application for the project. In order to create a
professional environment, students were divided into four teams representing
“competitive engineering groups” invited to submit a proposal to the resort management.
Teams performed design calculations using estimated data and built a small-scale model.
Upon the completion of the conceptual design, each team made a presentation to discuss
general features of their design. By the end of the semester, teams presented their designs
and scaled models in a final presentation open to public. The team ranked top by a group
of three judges was awarded with a certificate of recognition and a symbolic gift.
Description of the Project Topic
The project entitled “Wind Powered Public Transportation for Wisp Ski Resort” was
specified to students as shown in Figure 1 at the second week of the semester.
PROJECT SPECIFICATION
Wisp ski and golf resort (McHenry, MD) management plans to build an incliner trolley
system for transportation of guests between the hotel and the top of the hill*. Two cars will
operate continuously 24-hours a day, 7-days a week in such a way that when one of the
cars is ascending the other car will be descending. The management would like to supply
the cars from a wind-power plant to save energy.
Four engineering teams will submit a proposal for the supply system, and one of the
projects will be funded for realization. The basic design criteria are:
•
•
•
•
•
Feasibility
Efficient operation
Low cost over the economical life of 20 years
Reliability
Safety
Engineering teams will determine the customer needs, make a research to obtain the
information needed for their design, make design calculations, prepare technical drawings,
build a scaled model of the supply system and test it. A scaled model of the transportation
system will be available to test the power generation plant model. Teams will present their
design and discuss its features at a competitive panel presentation open to public.
*
Figure 1 Specification of the design topic
As stated in the project specification, the design teams are supposed to determine the
customer needs and collect the required information to design the supply system. The
scaled model of the transportation system shown in Figure 2 was made by the instructor.
This system consists of two model trolleys, connected to each other by a thread, running
up and down reciprocally on an inclined slope.
Page 7.948.5
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Figure 2 Schematic representation of the transportation system to be powered by wind
The choice of this particular project topic is based on the following ideas.
• It involves both electrical and mechanical engineering
• It constitutes a meaningful practical example to demonstrate conversion between
different energy types.
• It justifies the need to use wind power and apply energy conservation techniques
• The mechanically linked operation of two cars shows that energy can be saved by
exploiting the negative potential energy of the car running downhill to supply the
other one climbing. It also shows that supplying the negative kinetic energy of a
car slowing down to accelerate the other one can save energy.
• In a ski resort, the total mass of the car going up is usually bigger than the mass of
the car going down because a significant number of persons would ski downhill.
The potential and kinetic energy delivered by one car is not sufficient to supply
the other one.
• The power plant has to supply the net energy required for the operation of the
transportation system. However, both the produced and consumed energy are
probabilistic, so students have to find a method to store energy needed to ensure
the continuity of the scheduled operation.
• Toy trains are interesting and attractive, so the students can learn and assimilate
the concept of energy conversion better
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.6
On the other hand, the following challenges were foreseen for freshman students when
the topic was selected:
• Students are usually not familiar with underdetermined open-ended design
problems that have multiple solutions. Although most students can visualize the
outline of the overall system, they have difficulty to perform calculations and
figure out the design details.
• Some students have never taken a physics course at high school
• The concepts of work, energy, and power are covered in PHYS 261 later than
they need to start the design calculations.
• Most of the students have not learned basic principles of fluid mechanics,
electricity, and electro-mechanical energy conversion, which are needed to
develop the wind power system.
• Building a “scaled model” to test the behavior of an actual size system is new for
students.
• The project topic requires consideration of various concepts and seems to be
overcomplicated for freshman level.
The relationship of the selected topic to the program and the expected professional
outcomes are summarized below.
• The wind power plant contains both electrical and mechanical components, so
students interested in either electrical or mechanical engineering would enjoy the
design and development process.
• The technical background provided for the design gives a general idea about
different fields in electrical and mechanical engineering, so students who have not
decided in a particular major could test their interests, skills, and performance.
• Throughout the project, students find the chance to work in a mechanical
engineering lab (wind tunnel), an electrical engineering lab (electric machines),
and the workshop to manufacture and test their product.
• Students face an open-ended design problem, develop survival skills, and
understand the need for teamwork and lifelong learning.
Actual Size Design Calculations
Four design teams were formed at the first week of the classes. Selection of team
members were based on a survey to detect students’ characteristics such as strength or
weakness in math and science, computer proficiency, leadership qualities, residence
location, etc. Teamwork skills and attributes of a functional team were discussed and a
“flat team structure5 ” was adopted. In this structure, leadership function shifts around the
ring from member to member depending upon situations, and the leader is a working
member of the team, equal to other members. The instructor serves as a “consultant” to
provide information as requested by the team.
As shown in Table-1, students started to work on the design as soon as the project topic is
specified. At the first meeting, each team discussed the specified requirements, and
determined additional information needed to start brainstorming. Part of the requested
details was provided by the instructor. Teams searched the Web and library resources to
collect the following data needed for the design calculations.
•
•
•
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.7
Geographic information about Wisp ski resort
o Elevations at the base and at the summit
o Trail lengths
Estimated weight and electrical characteristics of an actual trolley car
o Passenger capacity
o Weight of an empty car
o Rated power
o Rated voltage
o Maximum speed
Selected characteristics for the trolley system:
o Run/stop schedule
o Maximum speed
o Acceleration
o Speed control types at start and stop (linear or nonlinear?)
All teams decided to assume that the cars accelerate at a constant rate, run at constant
speed, and slow down at a rate equal to the acceleration. The speed profile for one round
trip is shown in Figure 3.
V
t
Figure 3 Speed diagram for one round trip of a trolley car
Following a lecture introducing definitions of work, energy, power, and the principle of
conservation of energy, the teams determined the following parameters:
o Net kinetic energy needed for one round trip
o Net potential energy needed for one round trip
o Estimated total loss
o Estimated net energy assuming that no energy is returned to the source
o Estimated net energy in the case “positive energy” is returned to the
source
o Amount of energy to be store during one round trip for continuous
operation of the transportation system
Although the energy conservation principle seemed obvious during the lecture, almost all
students were confused in energy calculations. Based on the selected schedule and energy
calculations teams brainstormed about the energy storage system. Three teams decided to
use a battery while one team planned to use a flywheel for energy storage.
The basic principles of electromechanical energy conversion, DC machine and wind
turbine characteristics were introduced by laboratory demonstrations in EE and ME labs.
Average wind speed
12
10.7
11.4
10.7
10.6
8.9
Miles/hour
10
8.1
8.9
8.7
9.5
8.8
9.9
7.3
8
6
4
2
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
0
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.8
Figure 4 Hypothetical wind data supplied for the midterm exam calculations
Hypothetical wind data shown in Figure 4 was provided for actual size calculations. A
take-home midterm exam shown in Figure 5 was composed to guide students in their
actual scale design calculations.
In a ski resort, two trolleys run on 1.5 miles long tracks between two stations with an elevation
difference of 610 feet. The weight of each trolley car is 5 tons without passengers. Each car
can accommodate up to 20 passengers. The cars are mechanically tied to each other with a
cable-pulley system so they always move at the same speed.
The transportation system operates from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM continuously from November 1
to March 30. When the system operates, the cars stop at stations for 5 minutes to unload and
load the passengers. The cars reach a constant speed of 20 miles/hour with a constant
2
acceleration of 0.22 m/s . When they approach the other end, they slow down at the same rate
to stop. The total number of persons using the transportation system in a year is 80,000. The
resort management surveyed the guests and found out that in average 75% of the guests use
the public transportation only to go up, the other 25% make a round trip. The same survey
shows that the average weight of a passenger is 230 lb including their luggage.
1.
2.
Calculate the total change of potential energy in one round trip
Calculate the total kinetic energy that must be delivered to the system to accelerate the
cars in one round trip
3. Calculate the kinetic energy that must be converted to another form when the cars slow
down from the speed of 20 miles/hour until they stop
4. In order to slow down the cars, their kinetic energy must be consumed in some way.
Which form is it converted to in a conventional mechanical brake?
5. Assuming an efficiency of 80% for the overall system, determine the total energy needed
in one year to operate the cars.
6. Statistical wind data for the region is given in the attached chart. Select a reasonable
number of wind-turbine units and determine the blade length of each turbine to produce
enough energy to supply the transportation system.
7. Discuss the pros and cons of your selection in “6” in terms of cost, reliability, and
efficiency.
8. Determine the minimum amount of energy in kWh to be stored for continuous operation of
the system.
9. The average cost of electric energy to the end user (including taxes) over a period of 20
years is estimated 10 cents/kWh. Calculate the total savings on energy bill over 20 years.
Suppose that the economical life of the windmills is 20 years. If yearly maintenance costs 5% of the
initial cost, what should be the maximum reasonable investment for the wind farm?
Figure 5 Midterm exam questions
The midterm exam questions were quite helpful as an example and guideline to perform
the actual size design calculations. Economical issues such as cost of electric energy,
initial cost and maintenance cost of the plant, and estimated savings were introduced to
show the difference between science and engineering problems. In addition, because of
the statistical data and variety of possible assumptions highlighted the open-ended nature
of the design problem.
Scaled Model of the Wind Power Plant
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.9
The project specification shown in Figure 1 requires that each team build a scaled model
to test the operation of their design. This was the most confusing and challenging part of
the project. The major difficulties that arose in building the scaled model are discussed
below.
1:87 scale toy trolleys were used to build the transportation system model. Since
these trolleys are not made to study the physical behavior of the actual trolleys,
they do not represent the electromechanical energy conversion correctly.
Particularly, the mass, friction, mechanical power, voltage, current, electrical
power and electromagnetic losses are not scaled at the same ratio.
Teams used DC small motors available on the market. DC toy motors are usually
low voltage (1.5 – 12 V) and very high angular speeds (7000 – 11000 rpm). When
driven by a fan propeller as a generator, these machines provide very low voltage
even with an extremely high wind speed. Students understood that the voltage is
approximately proportional to the rotor angular velocity, and needed to connect
several DC machines in series to obtain an output voltage around one volt.
Students did not know how to step up DC voltage. Some teams wanted to use a
transformer, and saw that it was not possible for DC. One of the teams thought
about using an AC generator, however no AC machine (such as a small induction
machine) available on the market at this size could operate as a generator. One
team located by searching the web a 1.1 – 18 V DC/DC converter kit available at
Radio Shack®. The operation of switching DC/DC converters was briefly
discussed. In addition, students observed that when the voltage is increased, the
current has to decrease to maintain the input/output energy balance.
The geometric scaling principles were explained in a lecture. In order to keep the
Reynold’s number constant6, wind speed has to be increased approximately by the
inverse of the geometric scale. For the 1:87 scale of the model trolleys, an average
wind speed of 10 miles/hour must be simulated with a wind speed of 870
miles/hour, which is not possible with the wind tunnel available in our fluid
mechanics lab.
Because of the technical limitations and problems summarized above, none of the scaled
models built by the teams could properly simulate the operation of the actual wind power
plant. However, all models worked and provided electric energy to recharge 12 V battery
through the DC converter. The block diagram of the supply system is shown in Figure 6.
Teams tested their models to obtain the variation of the output voltage with current and
power using a utility fan because they could not fit the models in the wind tunnel.
DC/DC
Converter
Voltage
Regulator
Wind
turbine/Generator
To the
transportation
system
Rechargeable
battery
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.10
Figure 6 Layout of the supply system
Models developed by two of the teams are shown in Figure 7. All teams presented their
designs in a final presentation and showcase open to public. Figure 8 shows the article
published in December 13 2001 issue of the local newspaper Cumberland Times News.
Figure 7 Two wind turbine models developed by separate teams
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.11
Figure 8 Team 2 (left to right: Larry Guthrie, Sarah Carter, Rocky Weru, and Alex
Burdick) are testing their model at the Engineering Project Show Case open to
public (courtesy of Cumberland Times News)
Assessment Results
The course outcomes were continuously assessed in various ways. Oral presentations of
design teams were evaluated by the audience including the other teams and external
guests in addition to the course instructor. The evaluation sheets used for preliminary and
final design presentations contained the questions listed in Table 2. Average scores the
teams obtained at preliminary and final presentations are shown in Table 3.
Table 2
Questions for assessment of design presentations
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Elements of the presentation
Introduction
Background
Explanation of the design details
Presentation of the advantages and weaknesses of the design
Discussion of the presented ideas
Originality of the design ideas
Clarity of the presentation
Quality of the visual material
Organization
Efficient use of time
Grade
Table 3
Average presentation scores (out of 100) of teams
Team
1
2
3
4
Preliminary Presentation
86
74
85
79
Final Presentation
86
82
85
85
The final design was judged by a group of three physics and engineering faculty (Prof.
Francis Tam, Dr. Steve Luzader, and D. Chandra Thamire) who were not involved in any
part of the course. The design and presentation of Team 2 shown in Figure 8 was ranked
top among four projects. The evaluation criteria used by the judges is shown in Table 4.
Table 4
Evaluation criteria used by the judges
Grade
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Elements of the design project
Are the requirements stated clearly?
Are the requirements understood?
Are the design criteria stated clearly?
Is the research for technical background information satisfactory?
Did the team develop enough alternative ideas?
Are the generated ideas presented clearly?
How original is the design?
Are the advantages and weaknesses of the design discussed?
Does the final product meet the requirements?
Did the team evaluate the prototype/model through adequate tests?
Overall quality of the displayed material
The student opinions about the course components were evaluated after the final exam.
Three groups of questions were given to each student to assess accomplishment of the
course objectives, level of the design project, and teaching style. The distributions of
answers to the survey questions are shown in Figure 9 – 11.
Accomplishment of the Course objectives:
Comparing the knowledge and skills you have now to what you had at the beginning of
the semester, do you feel that this course was useful for you to
1. Understand better different phases of the product realization process
2. Develop teamwork skills
3. Learn various analysis and design methods
4. Learn sketching, technical drafting, and CAD techniques
5. Improve written and oral communication and presentation skills
6. Get an overview of the engineering profession and major engineering fields
6
Questions
5
4
Yes
3
No
2
1
0
5
10
15
20
Figure 9 Student opinions about accomplishment of course objectives
Selected design topic
Do you think the selected topic for design application was
1. Appropriate
2. Interesting
3. Too simple
4. Too complicated
5. Challenging
6. Good example to understand the basic concepts
Page 7.948.13
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
6
Questions
5
4
Yes
3
No
2
1
0
5
10
15
20
Figure 10 Student opinions about the selected design topic
Teaching style
How do you feel about the teaching style applied in this course?
1. Was the level of lectures appropriate?
2. Were the lectures interesting
3. Would you prefer more lectures?
4. Would you prefer more reading assignments?
5. Would you prefer more hands-on work?
6. Was the Blackboard Website useful?
7. Was your team productive
8. Did the team members communicate efficiently?
9. Did all team members contributed to the project equally?
10. Did you feel frustrated or uncomfortable in any part of the course?
10
9
8
Questions
7
6
Yes
No
5
4
3
2
1
0
5
10
15
20
Figure 11 Survey of teaching style applied in the course
Page 7.948.14
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
The assessment results show that the course objectives were generally accomplished, and
the majority of the students think that the selected project topic was appropriate,
interesting, and challenging.
Conclusions and Suggestions
The freshman course “Introduction to Engineering Design” offered at Frostburg State
University in Fall 2001 helped the students understand better the basic principles of
energy conversion. The project topic selected was comprehensive and quite challenging
for freshman level. Despite confusions and frustrations during the project, the majority of
students feel that the course objectives were overall accomplished. The course also
helped students develop both survival and leadership skills they will need in their study
and career.
From the instructor’s perspective, introduction of basic concepts through a design
experience is challenging and demanding. Obviously, the knowledge acquired by
experiential learning is more persistent. However, students less interested or talented in
workshop applications might develop a wrong feeling about engineering. In such a design
course, it is very important to inform students properly about different directions in the
engineering profession and discuss different types of works engineers perform in their
careers. Otherwise students might get a wrong impression that all engineers work in
machine shops, or all engineers spend their life by drawing.
Design of a wind power plant to supply a transportation system was appropriate to show
both mechanical and electrical engineering applications. Students also found chances to
see and use advanced lab facilities. However, the project topic was too comprehensive for
freshmen. Different parts of this project can be reassigned to the same students in their
junior and senior level engineering courses for advanced and more professional design
work.
Acknowledgment
The “Preparing for a Career in Engineering Learning Community” was funded by Frostburg State
University Special Academic Services. The author appreciates the collaboration of Dr. Joe Hoffman and
Ms. Beth Hoffman who taught the learning community sections of PHYS 261 and ORIE 100. Prof. Francis
Tam, Dr. Steve Luzader, and Dr. Chandra Thamire served to judge the final design presentation. Ms. Linda
Steele coordinated the Engineering Design Showcase where the final designs are presented to public. Mr.
Duane Miller developed workshop facilities needed to manufacture the scaled model and helped in
workshop sessions. Ms. Hilkat Soysal has contributed with her continuous support and suggestions. The
students enrolled in the course worked hard to accomplish the project and they provided constructive
feedback through surveys and individual free responses. The author gratefully thanks all mentioned
colleagues and students.
Students enrolled in “Preparing for a Career in Engineering” Learning Community:
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education
Page 7.948.15
Alex Burdick, Fannor Butler, Sarah Carter, Anthony Chambers, Darrin Coley, Samantha Conrad, Danielle
Cratty, Sean Cummings, Larry Guthrie, Shannon Hough, Thomas Laffey, Charles Lynch, Justin
Mahlmann, Brett Manvilla, James Morrissey, Matthew Roberts, Joshua Sharon, Rocky Weru.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Year 9 Report for ECSEL program at University of Maryland,
http://mfg-57.umd.edu/ecsel/enes100kit/files/99_report.html
T. M. Regan, G. Zhang, P. F. Cunniff, L. Schmidt, and J. W. Dally, "Curriculum Integrated
Engineering Design and Product Realization," ASEE'99 Annual Meeting, Charlotte, NC, June 20 – 23,
1999.
G. Zhang, "A Support Structure of Teaching Engineering Design to Freshman Students," ASEE'99
Annual Meeting, Charlotte, NC, June 20 – 23, 1999.
O. A. Soysal, “Freshman Design Experience: Solar Powered Irrigation System for a Remote farm,”
ASEE 2000 Annual Meeting, Saint Louis, MO, June 18 – 21, 2000.
W. C. Oakes, at al., Engineering Your Future, Great Lakes Press, 2001
M. M. El Wakil, Power Plant Technology, McGraw Hill, 1984.
Biography
Oguz A. Soysal received the B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees from Istanbul Technical University, Turkey.
In 1983, he joined ABB-ESAS Power Transformer Company (Istanbul, Turkey) as an R&D engineer. From
1986 to 1993, he worked for Black-Sea Technical University, Turkey, as Assistant and Associate Professor.
In 1987, he visited The Ohio State University (OSU) as a Post Doctoral Scholar, and in 1991 – 1992, he
spent a sabbatical leave at the University of Toronto. From 1993 to 1997, he has worked for Istanbul
University, Turkey, and Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, USA. Currently, Dr. Soysal is chair of the
Department of Physics and Engineering and teaches electrical engineering courses at Frostburg State
University, MD, USA.
Page 7.948.16
Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education