Using automotive safety in a service-learning project for undergraduate dynamics

Abstract

Automotive safety was used as a service-learning, overarching term-long theme in an undergraduate Engineering Dynamics course. The service-learning objective of the project was to prepare a small scale lab related to automotive crash testing and bumper design for a high-school student science summer camp program. The college students in the Dynamics class were tasked with performing analysis to help design and test the apparatus and also write procedures that would be given to the high-school students. In addition to traditional textbook homework problems and quizzes, the Dynamics students were tasked with working in small groups to analyze car crash mechanics as they related to the topics throughout the course. They were given weekly project assignments that involved addressing open-ended questions, conducting research outside of the scope of the course, performing analysis, working in groups, and summarizing the results in a short memo. At the end of the course a physical experimental apparatus was assembled that resembled the student's design. Students assisted in conducting a crash test and recorded acceleration data and high speed video which they used to analyze the results to determine the effectiveness of their own bumper design. Also students prepared a poster for a poster session on the last day of class where they compared their results with all of the other teams and were asked to explain the properties of a good bumper. Assessment of the project included surveys that asked the Dynamics students to compare the amount of time they spent outside of class for the course and the effectiveness of the project in helping them to learn the course material compared with the other course components. The surveys were given at the middle and end of the course to identify trends and compared with results from a control group. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.