2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Motivation

First-year engineering students often struggle to connect abstract mechanics concepts, such as forces, motion, and vector addition, to tangible experiences. Traditional labs emphasize formula application over creative problem-solving or teamwork, leaving many students uncertain about how physics principles inform design. The Miniature Golf Hole Design Challenge addresses this gap through a playful, team-based activity where students design, build, and test a small-scale functional golf hole using simple materials. By applying engineering concepts within a familiar game, students experience how forces interact, visualize vector relationships, and see iteration as central to design. The challenge embeds learning within a context that is fun, collaborative, and grounded in the physical behavior of systems.

Objectives

The activity was designed with five learning goals:
1. Apply vector addition and static forces to a real-world context by analyzing multiple golf strokes as force vectors with direction and magnitude and calculating their resultant.
2. Demonstrate systems thinking by decomposing a golf hole into interacting physical and structural subsystems.
3. Practice rapid prototyping and iteration through hands-on design and testing.
4. Develop teamwork and communication skills in a collaborative, open-ended problem.
5. Foster creativity and intrinsic motivation through a playful, low-stakes environment that encourages curiosity and persistence.

Together, these objectives integrate core topics from a mechanics module with design thinking and experiential learning. The activity situates theoretical knowledge in a concrete, observable system where students can test predictions and visualize outcomes.

Implementation

The challenge takes place during a 75-minute lab session in the first-year introduction to mechanical engineering design course, within a module on static forces and equilibrium. Students work in teams of four to six to design a miniature golf hole that demonstrates motion through applied forces while remaining structurally sound. Each team is given cardboard, wood strips for boundaries, and access to a staple gun and tape to assemble the course on a tabletop or floor surface. The use of limited materials emphasizes creativity within constraints and reinforces safe, low-cost fabrication practices.

The session unfolds in four structured stages:

1. Concept Development (10 min): Teams brainstorm a theme and identify where forces act within their design—ramps, deflectors, obstacles, and frictional surfaces. They sketch the hole layout and label key vectors that represent likely ball paths.
2. Prototyping (25 min): Using cardboard and wood strips, teams construct their hole, focusing on one key design principle (e.g., controlling direction with angled barriers or conserving energy on slopes). The instructor prompts teams to predict how the ball’s direction and speed will change at each interface.
3. Testing and Analysis (20 min): Teams test the hole and record several “putts” as vector quantities with both direction and magnitude. They measure angles and distances to calculate a resultant vector that represents the overall path from start to hole. This reinforces how successive applied forces can be modeled, summed, and analyzed.
4. Showcase and Reflection (20 min): Teams play each other’s holes, discuss which physical principles most influenced performance, and share one design improvement they would make after testing.
The instructor acts as facilitator, emphasizing links between the creative activity and core statics concepts such as vector decomposition, force balance, and energy dissipation. The session requires minimal setup and can be completed in one lab period using basic classroom tools and materials.

Assessment and Findings

Assessment includes short reflective prompts and instructor observation. Students complete a brief worksheet where they:
• Sketch their golf hole layout.
• Represent at least three ball paths as vectors.
• Calculate a resultant vector showing cumulative motion.
• Document their physical prototype.

Reflections show that students begin to see the connection between vector representation and physical motion. One student noted, “I finally saw why we add forces by direction, it actually makes sense when you watch the ball’s path.” Another remarked, “We talked about equilibrium when our ramp angle was too steep and the ball stopped mid-way.”

Across multiple course offerings, three consistent outcomes emerged:

• Conceptual reinforcement: Students demonstrated improved understanding of vector addition and static equilibrium by relating them to observable phenomena.
• Iteration and problem-solving: Teams made quick adjustments to ramp angles, materials, or obstacle placement to refine performance.
• Team engagement: The playful, competitive framing created an inclusive atmosphere that encouraged experimentation and peer learning.
Although the study was qualitative, both students and instructors noted higher engagement and retention of concepts compared to traditional problem sets. Observations showed that teams discussed and visualized vectors naturally while adjusting their designs.

Transferability

The Miniature Golf Hole Challenge can be adapted to any introductory mechanics or design course. It can be implemented indoors with small-scale cardboard holes or outdoors as a larger demonstration. Faculty can adjust focus areas to match course outcomes. The challenge also integrates easily with CAD modeling or physics simulation modules, allowing digital analysis of vector paths prior to physical construction. Because the materials are simple and inexpensive, the activity can be replicated across institutions and class sizes.

Anticipated Impact

Introducing this activity early in the curriculum helps students experience design as a process grounded in both creativity and physics. By linking play, experimentation, and vector analysis, the Miniature Golf Hole Challenge makes abstract mechanics concepts visible, tangible, and memorable. The result is a learning experience where students calculate, iterate, and laugh—discovering that engineering design can be both rigorous and fun.