Adapting a Freshman Manufacturing Course to Different Learning Styles
- Conference
- Location
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New Orleans, Louisiana
- Publication Date
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June 26, 2016
- Start Date
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June 26, 2016
- End Date
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June 29, 2016
- ISBN
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978-0-692-68565-5
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Manufacturing
- Tagged Topic
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Diversity
- Page Count
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17
- DOI
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10.18260/p.27278
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/27278
- Download Count
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563
Paper Authors
Aaron Lalley P.E. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
AAaron Lalley P.E. Aaron Lalley is an instructor at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T). His current research includes chatter modeling of a machining process with fixture optimization. Prior to academia Aaron worked for 23 years as an engineer for Hutchinson Technology, Caterpillar, Midwest Precision Tool and Die, Unified Theory Inc. and Manufacturing Works in the areas of machine design, tool design, product design, CNC programming, HVAC, MRP, process development and product development. - See more at: https://www.asee.org/public/person#sthash.WaxuWfqL.dpuf
Michael Langerman South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Dr. Michael Langerman is professor and Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department and Co-Director of the Computational Mechanics Laboratory at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T). Before academia, Dr. Langerman was employed at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory either as a member of the technical staff or as a closely aligned consultant. He has conducted applied research for LANL, ORNL, and several universities and companies. He has over 80 technical publications and conference presentations. He was elected to Fellow grade in ASME in 2006.
Shaobo Huang South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Dr. Shaobo Huang is an Assistant Professor and the Stensaas Endowed STEM Chair in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Her research interests include student retention and academic performance in engineering, student achievement evaluation and assessment, and K-12 STEM curriculum design.
Ryan H. Koontz
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
orcid.org/0000-0003-2564-7209
Ryan Koontz received his Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1999 and M.S. degree in mechanical engineering in 2002 from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T). He joined the SDSM&T Department of Mechanical Engineering as an instructor in 2002. In 2004, he joined the Center of Excellence for Production in Advanced Manufacturing and Production (CAMP) as the manufacturing specialist. He currently instructs students of CAMP through the design and manufacturing process and helps produce parts for the co curricular teams of CAMP. He is also pursuing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at SDSM&T focusing on student development and design thinking.
Lisa Carlson South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Lisa Carlson is the Director for Women in Science and Engineering, at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Ms. Carlson earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration- Marketing, at Black Hills State University, and her Master of Business Administration at Chadron State College. Working mainly with women's issues at the university, Ms. Carlson established a women's mentoring program for first year students at the university, and just recently established a women's center at SD Mines - the first to exist on any South Dakota university campus.
Eric Jon Holmgren
Originally graduating with a BA in Studio Art from St. John's University in 2004, Eric Holmgren relocated to Minneapolis, MN and found work in the publishing industry. For several years he worked as a bindery and press operator until a junior software developer position opened. With his self-taught technical background, including Linux and networking, he excelled in this position and over time became the development manager at the company known as BookMobile.
Being a Rapid City, SD native, Eric was well aware of South Dakota School of Mines & Technology's reputation and had always regretted not attaining an engineering degree there. In fall of 2013, this became a reality when he returned to Rapid City to attend SDSM&T full time as an undergraduate mechanical engineering student. As of fall 2016, he will be a graduating senior with many years of active participation in the campus machine shop and as a member of the Baja SAE team.
Abstract
Adapting a Freshman Manufacturing Course to Different Learning Styles
Traditionally, a mechanical engineering curriculum includes a freshman/sophomore course in the fundamentals manufacturing. Typically, this course will introduce elementary project management skills via a curriculum employing project-based learning. These elementary skills will include product design, resource planning, process planning and cost analysis, but the primary focus will be in producing a design that, in turn, can be manufactured using common machining processes. Our curriculum includes such a course and the course is titled Design for Manufacturing (DFM).
We introduced DFM two years ago. Initially, the first eight weeks of the semester included hands on training in various manufacturing processes: woodworking, welding, manual turning and manual machining. During the second half of the semester the students completed design projects. The grading of the student projects was based on the print quality, resource planning, process plan, cost analysis, and consideration of manufacturing processes.
Based on assessments conducted at the conclusion of the first semester, it was evident that the students had gained a fundamental understanding of manufacturing processes. Additionally, the majority of the students showed a high level of interest in learning how to operate the manufacturing equipment, particularly the machining equipment (lathes, mills, grinders, etc.). However, based on anecdotal student feedback, it was also evident that a minor but significant percentage of students were not interested in and somewhat intimidated by the hands-on operation of machining equipment. Since the goal of the class is the understanding of manufacturing processes and not the training of machinists, a curricular alternative was proposed.
3D printers were made available to the students for prototyping component parts (use of the printers was not required). We observed that the majority of those students who utilized the 3D print option were the same students who were not interested in operating machining (machine shop) equipment . It was decided, therefore, that 3D print applications would become the building block for the alternate DFM lab path series. Although the manufacturing concerns with 3D print are different from other manufacturing processes, the fact is every manufacturing method has unique concerns. 3D print offers students the opportunity to develop a cost analysis and process plans similar to the requirements of traditional manufacturing processes, including machining operations. As with traditional manufacturing processes, for the 3D print projects, we require a set of fully dimensioned drawings.
In addition to a 3D print project, the DFM alternate path includes computer numerical control (CNC) machining, 2D graphic design and 3D graphic design. We added these curricular elements to the alternative path since CNC is similar to 3D print in that a solid model is used to generate machine control to fabricate a part, albeit a prototype with the 3D printer. Also, CNC uses a machine (a mill or lathe in our case), tooling and methods similar to the manual machining lab in the original DFM series. The graphic design labs were included because they build on the solid modeling skills required for 3D print and CNC machining and also provide training valuable to practicing engineers – that of presenting complex ideas based on solid models to managers and lay people. Graphic design skills also improve an engineer’s ability to communicate and market design ideas via enhanced concept drawings.
We are currently conducting a student self-efficacy survey in both the original and alternative DFM paths. The hope is that allowing the student to choose a lab path more suited to their learning style will create a higher level of self-awareness of design for manufacturing while building self-confidence.
The results of the self-efficacy survey and the details of the two lab options will be reviewed in detail.
Lalley, A., & Langerman, M., & Huang, S., & Koontz, R. H., & Carlson, L., & Holmgren, E. J. (2016, June), Adapting a Freshman Manufacturing Course to Different Learning Styles Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.27278
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