From Demonstration to Open-ended Labs: Revitalizing a Measurements and Analysis Course

The course entitled Measurements and Analysis with Thermal Science Application is a required course for Mechanical Engineering students at Northeastern University. The existing experiments have become dated and in many cases have devolved to demonstrations by the teaching assistants, with little hands on experimentation by the students. This has resulted in severely decreased student satisfaction with the labs. An extensive redesign was performed to develop hands-on, open ended lab experiments that allowed students increased control over the outcome of the experiments. Pre-lab homework assignments require students to develop lab procedures, research sensor specifications, and develop virtual instruments in National Instruments’ LabView. A term project required student groups to design and execute a measurement experiment, presenting their findings in oral and written reports. Results show that class attendance was higher than previous offerings while student grades were similar. The new lab experiments were rated as more interesting and engaging by the students than comparable lab experiments in the previous course. The new term projects demonstrated in depth knowledge of a wider range of course topics and showed a great deal of sophistication and ingenuity on the part of the students.