An Interwoven Multisemester Dynamic Systems Project to Integrate STEM Material - 2006 ASEE Conference

P.Avitabile, S.Pennell, J.R.White

Students generally do not understand how basic math and science material fits into all of their engineering courses. Because they have no clear-cut reason to embrace these concepts, the students hit the “reset button” after each and every course. This often comes back to haunt the students in subsequent upper level classes which require a firm understanding of this material.

A new multisemester interwoven dynamic systems project has been initiated to better integrate the material from differential equations, mathematical methods, laboratory measurements and dynamic systems across several semesters/courses so that the students can better understand the relationship of basic math and engineering material to an ongoing problem. This is emphasized with tutorial materials using graphical user interface (GUI) modules to instill concepts. Several experimental systems (including first and second order response) are used to illustrate many of these concepts in an interwoven fashion.

These materials have been implemented in the Mechanical Engineering curriculum at UMASS Lowell for the Mathematical Methods course, two Mechanical Engineering Laboratory courses and a Dynamic Systems course. The materials have also been extended and implemented in both the Mathematics Department and Chemical Engineering Department at UMASS Lowell. Also, the materials have been adapted and implemented in three courses at Michigan Technological University in the Mechanical Engineering Department. This paper highlights the overall concept underlying the new approach. A description of the project and modules (analytical and experimental) under development is presented.

A PDF file will be available for downloading shortly

In the meantime, e-mail Peter_Avitabile@uml.edu for copy of paper