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1. Designing and 3D Printing Lab Equipment for Mechanical Vibrations Course and Laboratory: Work in Progress

   https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2021-71427  

   Lewis, Josh ; Estrada, Benjamin ; Pena, Paul ; Garcia, Martin ; Tekes, Ayse ( August 2021 , ASME 2021 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference)

   Undergraduate mechanical engineering students struggle in comprehending the fundamentals presented in an introductory level mechanical vibrations course which eventually affects their performance in the posterior courses such as control theory. One salient factor to this is missing the visualization of the concept with hands-on learning since the vibrations and control laboratory course is offered in the following semester. This study presents the design, development of three portable and 3D-printed compliant vibratory mechanisms actuated by a linear motor and their implementation in vibrations course and vibrations and control laboratory. The proposed setups consist of flexible and compliant springs, sliders, and base support. Mechanisms are utilized to demonstrate free and forced vibrations, resonation, and design of a passive isolator. In addition to the 3D-printed, portable lab equipment, we created the Matlab Simscape GUI program of each setup so instructors can demonstrate the fundamentals in the classroom, assign homework, project, in-class activity or design laboratory.
2. Reinforcing student learning by MATLAB simscape GUI program for introductory level mechanical vibrations and control theory courses

   https://doi.org/10.1177/03064190221085038  

   Pena, Paul ; Utschig, Tristan ; Tekes, Ayse ( March 2022 , International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education)

   The highly mathematical nature of introductory level vibrations and control theory courses results in students struggling to understand the concepts. Hands-on activity demonstrated in class can help them better understand the concepts. However, there is still an ongoing effort to lower the currently substantial cost of educational laboratory equipment for undergraduate-level engineering courses. Also, with the COVID-19 crisis, the Spring 2020 academic year took an unexpected turn for academics and students all over the world. Engineering faculty who teach laboratories had to move online and instruct from home. Online course preparation takes more time and effort compared to traditionally designed face-to-face courses and was compounded considering the unprecedented situation where many instructors didn't have time to record data from existing lab equipment or record video in their laboratories. In this paper, we present a Matlab Simscape GUI program designed to simulate modeling and control of dynamical systems for vibrations and control theory courses, and their associated laboratories, as one potential solution for online instruction. To complement the simulation program, online classroom and homework activities were designed using a learning sciences approach connecting several critical educational theories which can bolster student motivation, engagement with the material, and overall learning performance. Themore »simulation is presented along with data from 19 students who completed the associated classroom and homework activities. Survey results probing student perceptions about the value of the learning tasks for the simulation were overwhelmingly positive and indicate this approach holds promise in supporting student learning.« less
3. Development of a Pilot Manufacturing Cyberinfrastructure With an Information Rich Mechanical CAD 3D Model Repository

   https://doi.org/10.1115/MSEC2019-2882  

   Bharadwaj, Akshay ; Xu, Yang ; Angrish, Atin ; Chen, Yong ; Starly, Binil ( June 2019 , ASME 2019 14th International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference)

   Data driven advanced manufacturing research is dependent on access to large datasets made available from across the product lifecycle — from the concept design phase all the way down to end use and disposal. Despite such data being generated at a rapid pace, most product design data is archived in inaccessible silos. This is particularly acute in academic research laboratories and with data generated during product design and manufacturing courses. This project seeks to create an infrastructure that allow users (academia and the general public) to easily upload project data and related meta-data. Current manufacturing research must shift from siloed repositories of product manufacturing data to a federated, decentralized, open and inter-operable approach. In this regard, we build ‘FabWave’ a cyber-infrastructure tool designed to capture manufacturing data. In its first pilot implementation, we focused our attention to gathering information rich 3D Mechanical CAD data and related meta-data associated with them, with the intent to make it easier for users to upload and access product design data. We describe workflows that we have initially tested out within the two academic universities and under two different course structures. We have also developed automated workflows to gather license appropriate CAD assemblies frommore »commercial repositories. Our intent is to create the only known largest available CAD model set within academia for enabling research in data-driven computational research in digital design, fabrication and quality control.

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4. The Affordance of Computer-Supportive Collaborative Learning in a Dynamics Course

   Lee, Y. ( July 2021 , Zone 1 Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education)

   Over the past two decades, educators have used computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) to integrate technology with pedagogy to improve student engagement and learning outcomes. Researchers have also explored the diverse affordances of CSCL, its contributions to engineering instruction, and its effectiveness in K-12 STEM education. However, the question of how students use CSCL resources in undergraduate engineering classrooms remains largely unexplored. This study examines the affordances of a CSCL environment utilized in a sophomore dynamics course with particular attention given to the undergraduate engineering students’ use of various CSCL resources. The resources include a course lecturebook, instructor office hours, a teaching assistant help room, online discussion board, peer collaboration, and demonstration videos. This qualitative study uses semi-structured interview data collected from nine mechanical engineering students (four women and five men) who were enrolled in a dynamics course at a large public research university in Eastern Canada. The interviews focused on the individual student’s perceptions of the school, faculty, students, engineering courses, and implemented CSCL learning environment. The thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the transcribed interviews using a qualitative data analysis software (Nvivo). The analysis followed a six step process: (1) reading interview transcripts multiple times and preliminary in vivomore »codes; (2) conducting open coding by coding interesting or salient features of the data; (3) collecting codes and searching for themes; (4) reviewing themes and creating a thematic map; (5) finalizing themes and their definitions; and (6) compiling findings. This study found that the students’ use of CSCL resources varied depending on the students’ personal preferences, as well as their perceptions of the given resource’s value and its potential to enhance their learning. For example, the dynamics lecturebook, which had been redesigned to encourage problem solving and note-taking, fostered student collaborative problem solving with their peers. In contrast, the professor’s example video solutions had much more of an influence on students’ independent problem-solving processes. The least frequently used resource was the course’s online discussion forum, which could be used as a means of communication. The findings reveal how computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments enable engineering students to engage in multiple learning opportunities with diverse and flexible resources to both address and to clarify their personal learning needs. This study strongly recommends engineering instructors adapt a CSCL environment for implementation in their own unique classroom context.« less
5. Creating and Assessing an Upper Division Additive Manufacturing Course and Laboratory to Enhance Undergraduate Research and Innovation

   Maloney, P ; Li, B ; Zhang, M ; Cong, W. ( June 2018 , ASEE annual conference & exposition)

   This NSF IUSE project is on the Exploration and Design Tier and the Engaged Student Learning Track. It is aimed at better preparing the country’s professional workforce in the renaissance of U.S. skilled manufacturing by creating new personnel proficient in additive manufacturing (AM). AM is mainstream; it has the potential to bring jobs back to the U.S. and add to the nation’s global competitiveness. AM is the process of joining materials to make objects from 3D data in a layer upon layer fashion. The objectives are to develop, assess, revise, and disseminate an upper division course and laboratory, “Additive Manufacturing,” and to advance undergraduate and K-12 student research and creative inquiry activities as well as faculty expertise at three diverse participating universities: Texas Tech, California State Northridge, and Kansas State. This research/pedagogical team contains a mechanical engineering professor at each university to develop and teach the course, as well as a sociologist trained in K-12 outreach, course assessment, and human subjects research to accurately determine the effects on K-12 and undergraduate students. The proposed course will cover extrusion-based, liquid-based, and powder-based AM processes. For each technology, fundamentals, applications, and advances will be discussed. Students will learn solutions to AM ofmore »polymers, metals, and ceramics. Two lab projects will be built to provide hands-on experiences on a variety of state-of-the-art 3D printers. To stimulate innovation, students will design, fabricate, and measure test parts, and will perform experiments to explore process limits and tackle real world problems. They will also engage K-12 students through video demonstrations and mentorship, thus developing presentation skills. Through the project, different pedagogical techniques and assessment tools will be utilized to assess and improve engineering education at both the undergraduate and K-12 levels through varied techniques: i) undergraduate module lesson plans that are scalable to K-12 levels, ii) short informational video lessons created by undergraduates for K-12 students with accompanying in-person mentorship activities at local high schools and MakerSpaces, iii) pre- and post-test assessments of undergraduates’ and K-12 participating students’ AM knowledge, skills, and perceptions of self-efficacy, and iv) focus groups to learn about student concerns/learning challenges. We will also track students institutionally and into their early careers to learn about their use of AM technology professionally.« less