A Novel Labwork Approach For Teaching A Mechatronics Course

This paper presents a novel approach adopted to enhance the hands-on learning aspect of a Mechatronics course for undergraduate mechanical engineering students. In addition to traditional homework, which is usually solved analytically and/or numerically and conventional laboratory experiments, in which students follow certain pre-written, spoon-feeding procedures to complete assignment, our approach designed a set of “labwork” as an integral part of this course for students’ learning through their own “design of experiments” to solve engineering problems. To solve these “labwork” assignments, students were required to work as a team in the laboratory outside class hours. Each team was assigned several engineering problems to be solved (e.g., to find the stress concentration factor of a rectangular plastic plate with a U-notch under uniaxial tension). Instead of conventional approach (e.g., finite element method), the team was asked to use the equipment and software available for them in the lab (e.g., three strain gages and a strain indicator); designed, set-up and conducted their own experiment (e.g., where to place the three strain gages at the most suitable locations so that the stress concentration can be assessed most accurately?); analyzed the data and compared their results with solutions obtained by other means (e.g., from textbooks/handbooks, finite element solutions, etc.); and finally submitted final written reports. During these learning processes, the students were able to solve the “labwork” assignments collaboratively among themselves and without much intervention from the instructor and lab technician. The students arranged with the lab technician the optimal time frame when they were free and could work in the lab. The technician was assisting the students during the “labwork” but his input was minimal. In a nutshell these “labwork” assignments require students to apply the theoretical knowledge they have learned during lecture sessions of the course and to use laboratory skills in equipment and software they have acquired during conventional laboratory sessions. As a result students will be challenged to solve engineering problems independently and as a team, and gain confidence in their ability to apply their knowledge for problem solving when encountering new and uncharted terrains. From the survey conducted for the “labwork” evaluation, the student feedback was positive.