Improving Student Engagement in a Senior-Level Manufacturing Course for Mechanical Engineering Students

Abstract

The mechanical engineering curriculum prepares students for employment in a broad range of industries [1]. In the Midwest, many graduating mechanical engineering students will find employment in manufacturing-related fields. This is especially true in Ohio, where 17.8% of the total gross state product is accounted for by over 12,000 manufacturing firms [2]. For this reason, manufacturing courses play an important role in preparing mechanical engineering students to succeed in these industries.While most engineering courses are calculation-or design-intensive, manufacturing courses tend to be primarily information-driven. Covering this content through traditional lecturing often fails to fully engage student interest, motivation and learning potential. Research on student engagement in higher education indicates that improvements to course design and content delivery can improve student engagement [3][4][5][6][7]. Recommendations to instructors include developing interactive course activities [4], incorporating online multimedia resources [5][6][7], and integrating practical experiences into the delivery of the course content [7].The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate the changes made to a traditional manufacturing lecture course that sought to improve student engagement and learning. The new course structure consisted of four components: 1) self-learning outside the classroom, 2) handson manufacturing experiences, 3) a lecture incorporating active-learning exercises, and 4) a TED Talk-style final presentation. Student and Course Background:The University of Mount Union is a private, liberal arts institution located in Alliance, OH. The Engineering Department offers ABET-accredited undergraduate degree programs in mechanical and civil engineering. Of the nearly 2200 students enrolled at Mount Union, approximately 130 are majoring in one of the engineering disciplines.A manufacturing science course is required for mechanical engineering students during the spring semester of their final year. The course is comprised of a 2-credit-hour course lecture and a 1-credit laboratory. Before spring semester of 2017, the course followed a more traditional structure. Readings were assigned out of a manufacturing textbook, the manufacturing processes were described during traditional academic lectures, and tests were proctored to assess student learning. The 1-credit-hour lab was used to tour five local manufacturing facilities throughout the semester. A comparison between the 2016 and 2017 course structure is shown in Figure 1.

Manufacturing engagement: improving student learning through modifying content delivery and assessment

“…No discernable differences were found between cohorts taking the lab before (2019-20) or after (2020-21) the social distancing requirements were enforced. The in-person manufacturing facility tours were the highest ranked component of course in the previous study [2]. The 2019-20 offering of the course was able to attend one tour before the switch to remote learning.…”

“…Engineering students typically enjoy the challenge of solving complex math-or design-based problems, but the information-driven nature of manufacturing courses can limit student interest. A previous paper addressed these concerns in a senior-level mechanical engineering course by adding handson manufacturing experiences, field trips to commercial manufacturing facilities, and selflearning assignments enabling a partially flipped classroom [2]. Over the past four years, multiple improvements have been introduced to the course to adapt to pandemic restrictions, improve the self-learning component, and better define how final grades will be determined.…”

“…Primarily, THORS was designed to train employees in different manufacturing processes including foundry, forging, and machining. A standard THORS course is organized into three components: 1) Pre-Assessment, 2) Course Content, and 3) Post-Assessment and has been described in detail in a previous paper [2]. While students indicated that they enjoyed taking the THORS courses and found them beneficial to their learning, the post-assessments did not necessarily measure student learning since each test could be taken as many times as needed until a passing grade of 80% was achieved.…”