Intercollegiate Design Competitions and MTSU’s Machine Shop: Kindling Engineering Technology-Student Creativity & Confidence

Educators often face the daunting task of finding ways to encourage creativity and confidence in students. Limited time and pre-defined course objectives can further burden this task. Handson activities in the laboratory courses that often supplement basic science classes are, inarguably, beneficial as they can reinforce classroom concepts and instill students with confidence in both their knowledge and abilities. However, that confidence is often limited to the constructs of the textbooks used in the specific courses, and laboratory work may not always challenge or excite students. Engineering educators face additional challenges in creating hands-on experiences for their students. The nature of engineering endeavors in terms of cost and development-time can limit abilities to create meaningful engineeringlaboratory courses. Additionally, faculty-led and course-driven laboratory experiences are often designed around textbook concepts that do not necessarily expose students to challenges similar to those they may encounter in their future professional endeavors. This may leave students questioning the relevance of their education to “the real world” at the end of their courses. At Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), the Engineering Technology (ET) Department has overcome these issues through the partnership of its student-led, extracurricular Engineering Vehicle Program (EVP) and the student-managed campus machine-shop laboratory. Students, excited by their participation in EVP projects and by their access to state-of-the-art engineering tools, enthusiastically participate in machine shop activities. The machine shop provides a learning environment similar to that found in traditional science-based laboratories without the similar structure that can, potentially, stifle creativity. Students are naturally motivated to perform well at EVP design competitions, and the machine shop provides means for them to develop unique solutions for design and manufacturing challenges. This paper will explain MTSU’s approach to inspiring engineering creativity and confidence in its engineering technology students through utilization of an on-campus machine shop and participation in national intercollegiate design competitions. The success of this program has been realized through both increased enrollment and graduation rates in its Engineering Technology Department. Introduction: A Need for Laboratory Experiences That Do Not Stifle Creativity Laboratory courses often supplement basic science classes in high school and college. The hands-on activities provided in laboratories can challenge and excite students in a ways not achievable through traditional lecture-style teaching. Working in laboratories gives students opportunities to explore scientific concepts while applying knowledge gained classrooms. These experiences not only reinforce textbook ideas, but also instill students with confidence in both their knowledge and abilities. The benefits of laboratory activities and their contributions to P ge 22941.2 engineering-student retention have been well documented. A study conducted in 1998 suggested that as few as 8.5% of students leave engineering studies due to poor academic performance. An oft-cited study conducted by Vincent Tinto reported that student involvement in learning communities promoted student retention. Tinto writes that, “For some students, especially those who, in the past, had struggled in school, the collaborative environment of the learning community provided a safe place, a smaller knowable place of belonging, in which they were valued and in which they discovered they could learn.” In subsequent evaluations, Tinto also identified academic and social support networks as crucial components of student retention. Laboratory projects can provide students with both learning communities and vital support networks. Although common in the scientific realms of chemistry and biology, it becomes more challenging to provide relevant laboratory courses to engineering students. Due to the, typically, complex nature of engineering endeavors, it can be both difficult and cumbersome to provide full-scale, real-world problems for classroom investigation. In typical engineering classrooms, single aspects of larger systems are investigated out of context or with the application of complex assumptions. Isolating one concept at a time is usually necessary for teaching fundamental engineering concepts but risks blinding students to the applicability of what they are learning to larger, more complex systems. The same pedagogy may be used for engineering students in the laboratory, though it is difficult to focus exclusively on the design or modification of a single component of much larger system. Once adequate instruction occurs explaining engineering theories in enough detail for the application of engineering concepts to real-world simulation, there is often inadequate time and funding available. Additionally, course-led laboratory experiences can be very structured and do not necessarily encourage students to develop creative approaches to scientific problems. Creativity is often highly valued in courses pertaining to arts and literature. In mathematics and engineering, however, value is placed on achieving single, correct answers. No additional credit is given for innovative approaches to problem solving. Creativity expert, Sir Ken Robinson, calls this focus on singular approaches “the tyranny of common sense.” Students don’t recognize, or explore, alternative approaches to problems because they are working them exactly the way the problems have always been worked. This rigid approach to problem solving is compounded by students’ fears of answering questions incorrectly. Students’ grades often control their scholarship funding or financial aid, their abilities to take additional courses, their abilities to graduate, and their abilities to find employment after graduation. The general fear of being wrong or fear of receiving poor grades can prevent students from “thinking outside the box.” A study conducted at Ohio State suggests that stress, such as that induced due to worrying about academic performance, can further dampen creative thought. Stress and fear of failure can lead to stilted and rote problem solving skills. If failure occurs, or grades are lower than expectations, students lose confidence in their abilities to find successful solutions, and this further inhibits creativity. The challenge to colleges and universities then becomes finding ways to incorporate the benefits of the laboratory experiences that simulate real-world engineering experiences into engineering technology programs without hampering creativity. MTSU has successfully tackled this challenge through the utilization of its on-campus machine-shop laboratory and its Experimental Vehicles Program (EVPMT). P ge 22941.3 MTSU’s Approach to an Engineering Laboratory Experience The Experimental Vehicles Program at MTSU (EVPMT) encompasses four extracurricular engineering design projects: NASA Moonbuggy, SAE Baja, Formula SAE, and ASME Solar Boat. These projects encompass the design, budgeting, construction, and testing of experimental vehicles by student-led teams for entry into national and international collegiate competitions. Each student-designed and student-built vehicle must meet specific requirements outlined by the competition sponsors. For example, the NASA Moonbuggy must complete an obstacle course under the constraints that it be completely human powered collapsible into a four cubic-foot volume for transportation. Engineering endeavors, such as this, can be very complex, and there are rarely singular solutions to any given problems. Solutions must equitably balance multiple known constraints and variables, while compensating for unintended consequences. A particular design challenge may have several optimal solutions. Because of this, it is beneficial for engineering projects, like those in the EVPMT, to have indefinite life-spans. Students both create new designs and develop novel approaches to earlier designs to meet the same design requirements. The multi-faceted approach gives them more insight into new engineering-design issues and the impact of changes to existing designs. This learning experience is not possible in university courses that are only one-semester long or in industry where expediency is essential. The implementation of the EVPMT, therefore, addresses the need for real-world engineering technology learning environments and activities. Students may participate in EVPMT as part of a capstone elective, but many participate on a voluntary, extracurricular basis. When MTSU implemented its EVPMT in 2004, the two-fold intent was to generate interest in the Engineering Technology (ET) Program among high school and community college students and to provide students with hands-on learning applications for their engineering studies. Figures provided by MTSU’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness show marked growth in ET enrollment following the implementation of the EVPMT (Figure 1), confirming that the program intent has been achieved. 11 Figure 1: Growth in ET Enrollment (Source: MTSU Office of Institutional Effectiveness) P ge 22941.4 Additional benefits have been realized, as well. First, graduation rates in the Engineering Technology Department, as tracked and reported by the MTSU Office of Institutional Effectiveness, have increased 75%, which means that retention rates have also improved. Second, the utilization of the peer-managed machine-shop laboratory has provided a stress-free environment for students to creatively work through EVPMT challenges. The Machine Shop Laboratory at MTSU The heart of the EVPMT, the on-campus machine shop, allows students to develop their vehicle projects from the initial stages of research and design to the final stage of physical reality. Approximately 80% of EVPMT project components a