Evaluation Of An Industry Project In A Freshman Course

A unique opportunity for mechanical engineering technology students to create engineering drawings for an existing product for a manufacturer arose in spring of 1999. In keeping with the engineering technology philosophy that students learn more through practical application of knowledge, the documentation project was undertaken. 2 The paper describes the content of a freshman-level design documentation course and the industry documentation project. Implications of incorporating a relatively comprehensive project into the existing course syllabus are discussed. An evaluation of the project’s benefits and costs to student learning follows, together with suggestions for future improvements.