Student Funded Laboratory Exercises At Virginia Tech

Traditionally the methods of engineering education have been an outgrowth of the fact that engineers solve practical, physical problems. Prior to the second half of the 20 century, engineering students spent a great deal of time in labs and shops with less time in the classroom. Since then, engineering education has placed a greater emphasis on classroom instruction in mathematics and other sciences, resulting in a lessened hands-on experience for students. Within the last decade or so engineering educators have been coming to apparent consensus that the pendulum has swung too far and that there is a strong need to supplement traditional teaching with activities that give practical meaning to the equations presented in lecture (Colb 1984).