2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 130: Continuous Improvement of a Mechanical Engineering Senior Seminar Using Student Feedback

Presented at Mechanical Engineering Division (MECH) Poster Session

A senior seminar course has been taught by the author to mechanical engineering seniors at South Dakota State University since Fall 2021. The student feedback received in that semester was not very positive. A strategy for improving this course was then implemented based on students’ critiques and suggestions. More complimentary comments from students were received in the following semesters and the course evaluation score was increased from 3.2 (out of 5.0) to in only three semesters. This paper demonstrates the approach for a continuous improvement of this seminar course and the measures taken by the author in promoting student engagement and enhancing the learning experience. Lessons learned from teaching this course will help university teachers to improve the quality of seminar courses and make them more “useful” for college students.

Authors

Dr. Yucheng Liu South Dakota State University [biography]

Dr. Yucheng Liu (PhD, PE, FASME, FSAE) currently serves as the Department Head of Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department at South Dakota State University (SDSU) and holds the Sander Professor of Entrepreneurial Engineering in the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering at SDSU. Prior to joining SDSU in the fall of 2021, Dr. Liu was an Associate/Full Professor in the ME Department at Mississippi State University (MSU) since the fall of 2014. In that department, he served as Graduate Coordinator from 2016 to 2021 and held the Jack Hatcher Chair in Engineering Entrepreneurship in the Bagley College of Engineering from 2018 to 2021. Before joining MSU, Dr. Liu was an Assistant Professor of the ME Department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette). Dr. Liu received his PhD degree from the University of Louisville in 2005 and bachelor’s degree from the Hefei University of Technology in 1997, both in Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Liu’s research has historically focused on the areas of multiscale material modeling and simulation, high strain rate performance of materials, vehicle systems design and analysis, and hydropower and wave energy technology. His current research interests and activities center on gaining a better understanding of the process-structure-property-performance relations of structural materials through advanced multiscale theoretical framework and integrated computational and experimental methods. To date, Dr. Liu has published nearly 250 peer reviewed publications, including more than 130 peer reviewed journal articles, and received 2 patents. He has been the PI and co-PI for over 40 research projects funded by NSF, DOD, DOE, NASA, FAA, Louisiana Board of Regents, and industry with a total amount over $15.5M. Dr. Liu has served on review panels for many NSF, DOD, NASA, and DOE programs. Dr. Liu received the Junior Faculty Researcher of the Year of the College of Engineering at UL Lafayette in 2013, the Outstanding Senior Faculty Research Award from the ME Department in 2016, MSU and BCOE Faculty Research Award in 2018; he was named to the Jack Hatcher Chair in Engineering Entrepreneurship in 2018 and promoted to Full Professor in 2019. In his professional societies, Dr. Liu was elected a Fellow of ASME in 2017, a Fellow of SAE in 2019, and received the SAE Forest R. McFarland Award in 2020. Dr. Liu is a Professional Engineer registered in Ohio State and also holds active membership in ASEE and AAAS.

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