2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Laboratory classes provide students with an opportunity to take the theory learned in class and apply it to an experiment. However, many lab experiments are still divorced from what work looks like as an engineer. To encourage student engagement with engineering technical content in a realistic manner, a set of laboratories is in development for a sequence of two courses covering statics, solid mechanics, and materials properties. These courses are part of a non-disciplinary engineering program and start second semester sophomore year and continue through first semester junior year. The labs are inquiry-based and meant to be completed in one to two 100-minute lab periods, providing students with multiple distinct problems to address throughout the courses.
The labs are motivated by design briefs providing a real-world problem. Students must apply the content learned in class to design an experiment to address the design brief. In addition to solving the problem, students must ensure their solution is realistic through considerations of costs, safety, and regulations. Students then write a memo, design report, or white paper as their lab assessment. They report both their technical results, individual interpretations, and recommendations based on the results.
Early labs in the sequence contain significant scaffolding for students through guiding questions, examples, and class discussions. This scaffolding is slowly removed throughout the course sequence to help students develop independence. The sequence ends with an open-ended laboratory in which students are given a mystery material and must determine the type of material and provide a potential use for it.
This work-in-progress paper describes the motivation and development process of these labs as well as preliminary lab examples and planned assessment.