2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

It is known that engineering students often lack sufficient opportunity to work on so-called wicked and real-world problems in their core technical engineering courses. One of the nationally recognized initiatives supported by KEEN foundation to overcome this challenge is the integration of Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) in various instructional activities of engineering programs. There are limited studies in the literature related to the effectiveness of the EM as a framework of curriculum design in the context of machine design and dynamics of machinery. Empirical studies can provide informative evidence necessary for the further adoption of EM in specific engineering courses in a pedagogically informed manner. This paper presents the development and implementation of a course project in a junior level mechanical engineering course on Dynamics of Machines to (1) give students access to real-world learning experiences and (2) explore and identify the ways in which an interdisciplinary design project that combines key components of EM, STEAM and bio-inspiration impacts students’ learning. The results include initial findings from a thematic analysis of the data collected using photovoice reflections. Adopted from the relevant studies in the literature of EM curricular designs, photovoice reflections combine pictorial and textual data and constitute a portion of the project’s conclusion section submitted by students. The paper then discusses future steps on the use of interdisciplinary design projects which provide real-world experiential learning geared towards better preparation of engineering students for entering the workforce.