Learning outcomes from an Art-Engineering Co-curricular course

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to share the lessons learned from an art-engineering co-curricular course. In the Fall semesters of 2009-2011 an experimental course was offered at University of Michigan that provided students with an integrative, hands-on learning experience. The course, SmartSurfaces operated as a "multidisciplinary, hands-on, think-tank" and enrolled students from the Stamps School of Art & Design (A&D); the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the College of Engineering (MATSCIE); and the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (ARCH). The three-credit course was offered by each of the units and was operated as a 'meet-together' model (i.e. it was listed in each unit's offerings as a separate course that met at the same location and time). The course was team-taught by three professors (one from each unit). All three professors attended each class meeting - 6 hours; one day a week; for a semester (this is double the standard contact time for MATSCIE and ARCH but meets the accreditation requirements of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design). The course was open to twenty-four (eight from each unit) junior and senior undergraduates in 2009-10; and to eight junior and senior undergraduates from A&D and MATSCIE respectively; and eight graduate students from ARCH in 2011. Team projects were the basis of the learning experience. The students were divided into four teams of six with two A&D, two MATSCIE and two ARCH students on each. Throughout the course, learning involved collective problem definition and solution through a combination of collaboration, negotiation and experimentation. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2013.