In most capstone design courses, students go through the complete design process starting with a description of the problem and ending with a prototype. Many schools have one or two-semester-long classes where students work in groups or individually. The capstone design course in the Division of Engineering Technology at Wayne State University (WSU) falls into this category. The National Science Foundation funded Greenfield Coalition's (GC) capstone design course, however, is unique since students are given credit for their projects based on real-work experiences. This paper discusses how this is done at the Greenfield Coalition and the implications of adapting this course to Wayne State University's Division of Engineering Technology (ET) curricula.

Teaching profession continues to hold its status as a noble profession and university faculty are held with high esteem by the general population. Some faculty teaching in engineering and technical programs have begun to address the pedagogy of learning in recent years. This is supported by a number of initiatives at the national level. Besides funding of such activities by organizations such as the National Science Foundation, engineering professional societies have created forums and awards to recognize and promote teaching and learning of engineering subject matter. This paper addresses an experiment in improved learning by students of a subject matter that is very descriptive and non-traditional as compared to most engineering subjects. The applied human factors course is an elective course for engineering technology (ET) students and a required course for the (non-technical) industrial design students from the College of Fine, Performing, and Communication Arts (CFPCA) at Wayne State University (WSU). Technical students are more comfortable with equations and formulas where as the non-technical students have practically no exposure to such things. Setting for this course was a multi-media distance learning laboratory and the teacher had an important task of not just covering the material, but to increase student interest to optimize their learning. Although all the teaching material for the course was prepared for presentation in power point, after a discussion with the class, it was decided to make the learning process different from the traditional teaching. The class was divided in three groups and each group was given a reading assignment covering one third of the material to be covered in each class session. Each group met on a regular basis going over its assignment and breaking up the task for each team member to lead presentation and discussion for the next class. Learning objectives addressed in the course included team work, effective communication, system design and implementation, continued student participation, and effective learning for long term retention besides the contents of the subject matter. Overall, students really felt they were learning a lot and achieving unexpected new presentation skills. This paper would summarize a very positive experience of all dealing with learning pedagogy.

The Southeast Michigan Alliance for Reinvestment in Technological Education (SMARTE) is a consortium of community colleges, school systems, Wayne State University (WSU), and businesses in southeast Michigan formed in September 1993. The alliance exists to promote communication and cooperation among its partners to address mutual needs pertaining to education of the technological workforce. The specific mission of this virtual center is to collaboratively focus on restructuring product design curricula and teaching practices with authentic activities in an application mode. In the fast changing world of science and technology, there exists a need for an integrated educational experience for middle school students so that students and their parents appreciate the fact that technical education provides viable career opportunities. Students at the middle school level should be nourished to become talented technicians, technologists, and engineers as they proceed into the world of technological development. One of the important activities of the consortium is to organize enrichment activities of middle school students. A curriculum is designed for 8th grade students. In a lab based setting, CAD/CAM, computers and programming, engineering principles, and electrical/electronics are taught jointly by a team of faculty from community college, university, and middle school. A total of 62 students participated in pilot settings of three sessions. One program was organized over two consecutive Saturdays at Oakland Community College (OCC) and a similar program for a different group of students was organized at Schoolcraft College. A two week long session for a third group of students was offered at WSU. This paper shares the curriculum components, students learning, laboratory setting, students' perceptions of technical curricula, and lessons learned. Additionally, this brief report identifies outcomes of this enrichment activity for 8th grade students.

Many engineering educators have become sensitive to the improved outcome of student learning in their classes. This has been true for our colleagues in the colleges of education where teachers are prepared for the teaching pedagogy. In many cultures as well as ours, the teaching profession is upheld as a noble profession. At the same time, the university faculty are held with high esteem by the general population. Faculty teaching in undergraduate programs have begun to address the pedagogy of learning in recent years. There is a national trend towards helping in this phenomenon. Besides funding initiatives by organizations such as the National, Science Foundation, engineering professional societies continue to organize forums and awards to recognize and promote teaching and learning of engineering subject matter. This paper would address an experiment in improved learning by students of a subject matter that is laboratory based. The instrumentation course is a required course for engineering technology (ET) students pursuing mechanical, manufacturing/industrial, product design, and electromechanical majors at Wayne State University (WSU). Most engineering technology students are more comfortable with experimental techniques than with derivation of equations and formulas. Setting for this course was a multi-media distance learning classroom and a set of lab experiments. The teacher had an important task of not just covering the material, but to increase student interest to optimize their learning. Although all the teaching materials were prepared for presentation in power point, after discussion with the class it was decided to make the learning process different from the traditional teaching. The class was divided in three groups and each group was given a reading assignment covering one third of the material to be covered in each session. Each team met on a regular basis going over its assignment and breaking up the tasks for each team member to lead presentation and discussion for the whole class. Learning objectives addressed in the course included team work, effective communication, system design and testing, continued student participation, effective learning for long term retention besides the contents of the subject matter. Overall, student really felt they were learning a lot and new things. This paper summarizes a very positive experience of students and faculty dealing with learning pedagogy.

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