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Mini-Projects as Part of a Freshman Seminar For Mechanical Engineering Technology Students

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Conference

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Vancouver, BC

Publication Date

June 26, 2011

Start Date

June 26, 2011

End Date

June 29, 2011

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Engineering Technology Design I

Tagged Division

Engineering Technology

Page Count

13

Page Numbers

22.1066.1 - 22.1066.13

DOI

10.18260/1-2--18653

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/18653

Download Count

499

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Paper Authors

biography

Robert Edwards Pennsylvania State University, Erie

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Robert Edwards is currently a Lecturer in Engineering at The Pennsylvania State Erie, The Behrend College where he teaches Statics, Dynamics, and Fluid and Thermal Science courses. He earned a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology and an M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Gannon University.

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biography

Michael Lobaugh Pennsylvania State University, Erie

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Michael Lobaugh is a Lecturer in Engineering at Penn State Erie. He received his B.S. in M.E. at the University of Illinois in 1986 and his M.S. in Engineering Management at the University of Massachusetts in 1997. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State, he worked at Lord Corporation and Babcock & Wilcox in various engineering and management roles. He has experience teaching Computer-graphics, Quality Control, Mfg Processes, Prod. Design, Lean Mfg, Mechatronics.

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Abstract

Mini-Projects as Part of a Freshman Seminar For Mechanical Engineering Technology StudentsAbstract:First year experience courses are mainstays in the curriculum for freshman engineeringtechnology students, as well as for students in other fields. There are several general types ofseminars being. These range from general information about the school (known as extendedorientation types) to discipline specific, pre-professional types. All of them offer advantages forfirst year students trying to get acclimated to college life. In addition to advantages for thestudents, other positive outcomes have been shown to result from having a formal first yearprogram for students. For example, improved peer connections, increased use of campusservices, and increased out of class faculty/student interaction have been attributed to theseprograms.Almost half of the first year seminars are offered as one credit courses. It can be challenging todesign a course with such tight time constraints. The course instructors must carefully balancethe course load and content with the one credit the course is worth. The instructors mustcarefully select the content to make the most of the available time.The course for mechanical engineering technology students at the authors school is designedwith several goals. They include transitioning the students from high school to college life,providing information on the logistics of scheduling, introduce the students to the campus andstudent life and providing opportunities for the students to participate in activities whichchallenge their creativity and other skills.This paper first presents a general overview of the course, including some of the reasoningbehind the selection and timing of certain topics. The primary focus of the paper is on adescription of various mini projects or activities designed to help meet the course goals listedabove.

Edwards, R., & Lobaugh, M. (2011, June), Mini-Projects as Part of a Freshman Seminar For Mechanical Engineering Technology Students Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--18653

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