Bridge Design Project: A Hands On Approach To Statics And Strength Of Materials Learning

An obstacle for Manufacturing Engineering Technology (MET) students who are trying to learn Statics and Strength of Materials is their lack of involvement in their learning process. These students sit passively as instructors demonstrate concepts or, when solving the problems, are not active learners. In order to avoid this behavior, a bridge design project offers an interactive approach to engage students in the learning process. This paper provides some of the guidelines of a bridge design project that can be useful in active learning. Several project management skills are also integrated throughout the project. This paper describes our experience in developing the bridge design project.