A first year course based on conceptual design

Abstract

The College of Engineering at the University of Utah includes many majors and departments. A great deal of effort has been placed on helping students choose a major prior to enrolling at the institution, but many students still enroll as undecided students. A course was designed to provide an engineering design experience to undecided students as well as students who are not academically prepared. The objectives of the course are to help students select a major in engineering, and to provide an early design experience to help them create realistic expectations for engineering as a potential profession. The university does not have a first-year program, therefore this course is important for helping students make an informed decision about which major in engineering is right for them. This first-year engineering course is designed to demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of engineering. Students are introduced to the design process and the grand challenges as outlined by the National Academy of Engineering. During the course of the semester, students begin to develop problem and needs statements. Those statements begin to take shape as they begin to identify marketing requirements, design specifications and begin the design process. Students are placed on interdisciplinary teams where they create innovative conceptual solutions to some of the grand challenges. The conceptual design project in the course has helped students realize where their interests lie. Furthermore, students begin to understand how their core coursework relates to both the design process and their future engineering courses. In addition to conceptual design, students in the class are introduced to research happening within the College of Engineering through both tours of research facilities as well as faculty presentations. Additionally, there are four course mentors for the course, all of which are in their junior and senior years. These mentors help students select a major and consult on their design projects. The mentor relationship occurs at several points during the semester. During the first few weeks they come into the class to answer questions about why they chose their major, what they enjoy about their major and what they hope to do with their major. During subsequent classes, they give a short presentation outlining the context of the grand challenges discussed in the course, and then answer questions in a discussion format. As the semester progresses, they are paired with teams as mentors and provide feedback during the final grading of the design projects. Student feedback was gathered after each semester, and changes were made to best meet student needs and interests. Feedback was provided in both qualitative and quantitative formats in the full paper, and demonstrated the effectiveness of the course in helping students choose a major, become familiar with the design process and create a better understanding of the engineering profession. This course has been taught for the past three years, and has been beneficial in helping many students choose a major, whether in engineering or not. Therefore, this course has been effective for helping students gain exposure to engineering design and create realistic expectations for a major and a career in engineering. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2013.