Some Key Elements To A Successful Design Based Course

Design-based courses often afford instructors more latitude in teaching styles and curriculum (inductive teaching/learning), relative to the more traditional courses (deductive teaching/learning). With some effort and planning, design-based classes can be developed into a successful alternative learning environment. Three key principles, which have been found to enhance learning, are discussed. These principles include integrating lab and lecture topics, promoting student enthusiasm, and providing exposure to real-world engineering. The suggestions and techniques presented in this paper come from the authors’ experiences associated with developing and teaching a design-based hydraulic structures course over the last six years at Utah State University.