2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper is considered complete evidence-based practice. In Fall 2023, Robert Morris University piloted seven different semester-long projects in one section of an Introduction to Engineering course. Students were assigned in groups of four and given specific roles and responsibilities. The projects were designed to complement the curriculum of the class and allow each group to meet learning outcomes through an exploration and application of technology to solve engineering problems. The projects were created with a framework that would allow other faculty who teach the course to select any number of the projects to offer (based on resources available and instructor experience) or design their own projects to fit the framework. Most projects required the purchase or reuse of available hardware and software, but one project was designed specifically to require only free software, and be easily learned by any instructor for use with the entire class. This allows the project-based curriculum to be implemented by any university instructor or a college-in-high-school teacher, regardless of their specific engineering background. A detailed curriculum and project manual were created for the class to aid instructors. In this work, the curriculum framework and the seven initial projects are presented and discussed along with student feedback on learning outcomes and instructor observations.