Flip‐teaching engineering optimization, electromagnetic product design, and nondestructive evaluation in a semester's course

Abstract

Teaching practical design to students requires first a numerical course such as on finite elements and then a course on optimization. However, because of curricular constraints, it is very difficult to get students to take two courses. This paper describes a new semester's course at Michigan State University that accomplishes this through flip teaching to tackle the challenges of time. It is the flip teaching that made it possible to cover two large courses as one. The traditional order of (a) delivering theory (b) programming ancillary tools (mesh generators, solvers), and (c) programming and solving design problems, is flipped. Pre‐constructed meshes described by design parameters and ancillary programs (solvers, mesh generators, and equipotential plotters) are given to students. They familiarize themselves with these at home so that class discussion is focused on the tough concepts inherent to finite element optimization. Further to manage time, students do the massive homework in teams of two and in the last 3 weeks, each student master's one optimization method working closely with the instructor in face‐to‐face sessions. Flip teaching was praised by all students. The final assignment with a realistic design problem (using a method specific to each student) involved a seminar where students presented their results and taught their specific method to the others. A survey proved the learning accomplished. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 23:374–382, 2015; View this article online at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI http://10.1002/cae.21607

Review of flipped learning in engineering education: Scientific mapping and research horizon

“…Kim et al, 2014), reducing failure rates (Petrillo, 2016), promoting student success through doing exercises (Oddsson & Unnthorsson, 2017), engaging students without overloading them with class hours (Ravishankar et al, 2018) and so forth. Hoole et al (2015) incorporate several active learning strategies and found increased student engagement and interest. Another key dimension of student learning is self-efficacy investigated by Yan et al (2018).…”

“…Chiang and Wang (2015) found that teachers can gain access to students easily and can organize their course contents well in pursuing this approach. Teachers also utilized the method well to tackle the challenges of time constraints in covering a large volume of course material (Battaglia & Kaya, 2015;Hoole et al, 2015). Teachers too can address budget constraints in their teaching with low-cost technology aids to enhance student learning (Yelamarthi & Drake, 2015).…”

Using finite element method based software to teach electrical machines—The linear switched reluctance actuator

“…The flip‐teaching approach is described in Ref. as a way to successfully deliver finite elements and mathematical optimization together in a semester, giving pre‐prepared programs to students learn by themselves, remaining the more detailed and complex programming assignments for the face‐to‐face teaching.…”

Evaluation of a Flipped Classroom in Structural Steel Design

“…Flipped classrooms have a major difference compared to traditional lectures in that passive lecture content (e.g., theoretical behavior, derivations) is typically assigned as independent preparation activities (e.g., watching videos, reading book chapters) completed prior to class [4]. As a result, time spent inside the classroom can be focused on active and/or application-based learning [5], and course content can be modified to increase the complexity of examples and/or introduce more rigorous concepts [6]. Flipped classrooms have shown to improve many aspects of engineering education, including increases to student interest [7], student satisfaction [8], and student attitude [9].…”