Engaging undergraduate students using real-life ergonomic problems in the introductory ergonomics course

Abstract

Human factors and ergonomics (HF&E) has emerged as an important subject for engineering and technology disciplines, especially for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering programs. However, most of the undergraduate engineering programs have just one introductory ergonomics class as a requirement for the degree. Therefore, it is challenging for the instructor to effectively engage the students in the course, as most of the students don't have prior knowledge of human factors and ergonomics. This study presents some useful strategies of engaging undergraduate students in the introductory ergonomics class through specifically designed course assignments. The assignments have been designed based on the real life ergonomic problems in different areas of ergonomics. The students were challenged with five different assignments covering different sections of ergonomics, work design and safety. In addition, each student needs to submit a term paper or case study focusing on any specific application area of ergonomics towards the end of the semester. For each assignment, the students were asked to study and investigate the ergonomic issues from their daily life accessories, classrooms and laboratories and offer possible solutions for the non-ergonomic designs and issues. For each assignment, the students need to prepare a report including the image and brief description of the non-ergonomic design, explaining why the design is not ergonomic, and offering possible solution(s) to make the design/part ergonomic. Besides engaging the students, the assignments allowed the instructor to directly assess students' learning of the concepts from the theory lectures. The students found the assignments interesting and were more engaged to the topic as those ergonomic examples relate to their daily life. The enthusiasm and interests of the students in those exercises were reflected in the course evaluation as well. It can be concluded that the exercises engaged students more intensively in the course and helped them to understand the applications of ergonomics. Finally, the assignments and final term paper/case study helped to achieve several learning outcomes defined for manufacturing engineering students by ABET.