Implementation and Assessment of Case Studies in a Freshman Engineering Program

This paper reports on a subset of work carried out on a project to extend the previous efforts of implementing and assessing case studies to twelve university partners that broaden the scope to cover all engineering disciplines, as well as the NSF Materials Digital Library. This specific assessment focuses specifically on the activities the Department of Engineering Fundamentals at the University of Louisville, where case studies are used in a first year course titled Introduction to Engineering. Case studies require students to synthesize the facts and engineering principles they have learned, and combine them with their broader education in the arts, humanities, and sciences. Case studies tie together technical, ethical, and procedural aspects of engineering and require students to undertake higher order thinking in order to synthesize the relevant issues. As a result, the case studies integrate ethics and procedural/professional issues into courses. In the case of a first year course, case studies introduce the engineering profession. Case studies used in this first year course have included some basic design case studies regarding local failure and design investigations, such as damage due to blasting and problems with tunneling. More involved case studies include the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse and the problems the Hubble Space Telescope experienced and the engineering of the subsequent repairs. A non-failure case study used in the course involves the design of a wastewater treatment process. All case study activities involve active learning via teamwork, but a special activity was added for the case study of the collapse of the Hyatt Regency walkways in Kansas City, Missouri, in July 1981, where 114 people were killed. Students participate in a mock hearing before a Professional Engineering Licensure Board to determine which entity involved in the design and construction of the walkways was most responsible for the disaster. Groups of students are assigned to take the role of the engineer, contractor, and other entities and must defend those positions. Case studies such as the Hyatt Regency collapse can reinforce the importance of professional licensure by illustrating the responsibilities of the Engineer of Record. It is anticipated that the use of case studies with first-year students will positively impact retention, especially for those who don’t easily relate to engineering as a career, and will also facilitate career choices and emphasize the common ground of practice among students in various engineering disciplines. Student surveys and performance are being recorded to determine the effects of using case studies with first year students.