Using Modular Programming Strategy to Practice Computer Programming: A Case Study

It is important for the engineering and technology students to learn and improve their computer programming skills throughout their college education. To make the students’ learning process more efficient, a Modular Programming Strategy (MPS) was introduced at the last ASEE annual conference in 2011. As an implementation of the MPS, the authors of this paper will present a case study to demonstrate how this programming concept is applied in the programming assignments of a graduate course. This graduate course was offered to ten graduate students in the area of manufacturing engineering technology. All of them were engineering students without computer science, electrical engineering or software engineering background. Through this case study, the authors will show that the MPS will enable the students to quickly solve many engineering problems in a correct and timely manner.