Evaluation of Targeted Systems Thinking and Systems Engineering Assessments in a Freshmen-Level Mechanical Engineering Course

Developing high performing, cutting edge products and systems requires engineers that, in addition to being proficient in their specific discipline, have a solid background in product development, systems engineering (SE), and systems thinking (ST). Introducing ST/SE skills gradually throughout a traditional engineering curriculum has the potential to produce graduates ready to participate in multidisciplinary teams working to develop complex products or systems. To explore how to progressively develop the ST and SE skills of mechanical engineering students, a freshman-level introduction to mechanical engineering course was utilized to incorporate basic ST/SE concepts and evaluate the gains in the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) of students in these areas. Educational materials in the form of lectures, homework assignments, and a short project specific to freshman-level appropriate ST/SE topics were developed and implemented in an introduction to mechanical engineering course during both the Fall of 2019 and the Fall of 2020. Sample student work and scores were collected for one traditional and six newly developed homework assignments containing ST/SE questions. Rubrics for the targeted homework assignments were developed to effectively compare student work across 3 different semesters: Fall 2018 (a control group, no ST/SE intervention materials presented), Fall 2019 (first implementation of ST/SE materials), and Fall 2020 (second implementation of ST/SE materials). In this paper, the rubric development process and analysis technique will be described. In addition, the analysis of students' KSAs in the selected ST/SE topics is used to highlight the impact of the newly implemented educational materials on students' ST/SE understanding. Finally, the analysis is used to suggest improvement of the materials for future implementations.