Project-Based Learning (PBL) in the First-Year Engineering Design Class

Engineering Practice and Design Studio (EPADS) is a freshman year engineering design class. It is a two credit class required for all engineering majors. In fall semester, 137 students registered for this class. There are eight sections available and each section typically has eighteen students. The main goals of this class are to teach students major specific skills and design process, and also to educate students on different engineering majors available at the institution such as mechanical, civil, electrical and computer engineering. To achieve these goals, engineering faculty decided to divide the fall semester into two seven-week modules. These modules are split between mechanical/civil engineering and electrical/computer engineering. This paper mainly focuses on the structure of the mechanical/civil engineering module and the changes implemented to that module over the recent years. The mechanical/civil module consists of three main components: computer aided design (CAD), machine shop, and a design project. Students learn how to use SolidWorks, shop safety and skills, wood fabrication, and basic metal working. In addition, students work as a team on a design project. Since 2013, students have been working on seven week-long hands-on design projects. Two types of projects are implemented: one with a community partner and one without. The first project explores different ways to transfer the energy from falling water. The second project is design of a little free library in collaboration with local community. In this paper, those two projects will be explained in detail and samples of student work will be provided. In addition, survey results, faculty observations, and future recommendations will be included.