Using Design To Teach Freshman Engineering

Most freshmen enter the university with a limited understanding of what engineering is and what engineers do. Baylor University’s first-semester freshman Introduction to Engineering course informs the students about the engineering profession and equips them with some of the basic skills and tools necessary for success. These skills include technical drawing, use of spreadsheets, and data collection and analysis. The students ultimately develop their confidence in problem solving and design skills using a balsa wood bridge design project. The skills, tools, and techniques developed during the semester in class and in laboratories are applied to the design and construction of the bridge. Students, operating in teams of three to five, also learn to work with their peers. The teams are given a Request for Proposals (RFP) and allowed to exercise creativity within the scope of the RFP. Students progress through the design process (concept, preliminary, and final phases) using both written and oral communication. The final grade of the design process is based on their prototype and on written and oral presentations. At the conclusion of the semester, the teams test their bridges to destruction to determine which bridge holds the maximum load. A student peer assessment of the project is used and feedback is given to each student. The design project reinforces skills taught in the classroom and labs and motivates the students to pursue engineering as a career.