Field Trips: An Innovative Approach In Teaching 'manufacturing Processes' To Traditional Undergraduates

Abstract

Teaching manufacturing processes to undergraduates with industrial and mechanical engineering majors poses a challenge, in that, students have little background from which to begin building their knowledge. Comparing and contrasting different processes becomes just another 'book' problem to solve and/or visualization of the processes is problematical for many students. A 'learning beyond the classroom' experience of industrial field trips has been implemented for four years as a regular class activity and integral part of student learning. The industries selected are local to the college and four field trips per semester are scheduled during regular class time to assure participation of the entire class. Key to this learning experience is that all trips are scheduled to coincide with topics being covered in class. Students are able to 'see' the technology presented in the text, establish a dialogue with the company's engineer and use their observations in class discussions. Small notepads are provided to each student to encourage note taking, improve retention of process details, and provide an opportunity for a student to roleplay, as a practicing engineer. A formal trip report is required and comprised of questions regarding the process technology and products manufactured at the facility. A key question on each trip report states, "What resources, i.e., information and people, would you request if you were a new engineer at this company?" In class, this question sparks discussion and to provides a link between the student's pre-professional experience and their future in the real world. The feedback from the students has been overwhelmingly positive. Assessment of student learning and basic knowledge is evidenced by the significant improvement in quality of the class discussions and the technical content in the trip reports. The feedback from industry has also been positive and their cooperation has been an asset to this activity.

The effectiveness of the industrial field trip in introduction to engineering: A case study at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education, Vietnam

“…The results data show that the majority of students evaluate the industrial field trip in the introduction to engineering is very effective. A study by Vollaro 9 on the field trips as an innovative approach in teaching “Manufacturing Processes” also showed similar results, “students believe the industrial field trips greatly enhanced their learning.” This statement is further evidenced by feedback from students through a question followed:…”

“…8 The industrial field trip provides an overview of new technologies in industry for students, they can be dialogue with the engineers in the company, and the opportunity to role-play to practice engineering as an engineer. 9 One of the important features of industrial field trips that students have the opportunity to experience the latest technologies is applied in industry. 4 In summary, we affirm the industrial field trips in the introduction to engineering provide the opportunity for students to observe the latest technologies, thereby attracting the attention of students to study.…”

Examining How Skill-building Workshops Affect Women’s Confidence over Time

“…Many schools and universities are now implementing various activities into their curriculum to help students become more comfortable with technical skill-building content, such as materials testing, computer aided design (CAD), manufacturing processes, and the latest electronics or programming platforms. Several of these curricular models try to help build skills through visualization, including simulations and field trips to factories to help envision concepts discussed in lecture [18] [ 19].…”

“…The pre and post workshop surveys indicate that there is a significant increase in using programming software in respondents' respective fields after taking the workshop. Additionally, 66.7% of the undergraduate students and 78.4% of the graduate students who took the workshop indicated that they are more confident in programming now that they have taken the workshop [19].…”

Outreach Program With Summer Camps And Engineering Workshops

“…Despite an increase in the number of women in engineering profession, the percentage of women in engineering schools and among practicing engineers continues to be around 20% and 10%, respectively [1][2]. There are various outreach and recruitment programs specifically targeting women including [3][4][5][6]. As a first step in developing the Institute outreach program we decided to partner with the Girl Scouts and the ESD 112 to provide two summer camps in July 2004 and four follow-up manufacturing workshops during the 2004-05 academic years.…”