1. Integrating the ECE Service Course with the ME Curriculum Richard A. Layton Dept of Mechanical Engineering Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 29 February 2004

2. What service is provided?  In the past... Not a prerequisite for any mechanical engineering (ME) course Course relevance not obvious to ME students  Today… Much closer integration of learning objectives Relevance still not obvious … BUT WE’RE WORKING ON IT!

3. What we mean by “integration”  Learning objectives that build on and reinforce material from one course to the next  Interdependence of course content explicitly shown

4. Instrumentation … apply appropriate sensors, instrumentation, and software tools to measure physical quantities. Experiment … devise an experiment, specify equipment and procedures, implement the procedure, and interpret the resulting data to characterize an engineering material, component, or system. Data Analysis … collect, analyze and interpret data, form and support conclusions, make order-of-magnitude judgments, and know measurement unit systems and conversions. Learn from Failure … recognize unsuccessful outcomes due to faulty equipment, parts, code, construction, process or design, and develop effective solutions.

5. Our approach  ECE/ME faculty collaboration  Learning objectives consistent with ME curriculum  Focused content, greater depth  Revise subsequent course to take advantage of the service course

6. Where we’re headed ES203 ES205 ECE207 ME311 ME421 Electrical circuits System dynamics Electrical service course Measurements Experiment design Proposed prerequisite

7. Consequences  Labs: build on and reinforce material across the entire sequence  Measurements course: proposed changes modeled on the service course  ME curriculum: technical outcomes more robust in instrumentation and experimental design

8. Implementation in ME labs  Clearly identify what learning objectives we want to meet in lab  Make the lectures support these objectives  Probably not studio format  Continue to work on remainder of ME lab sequence

9. GOAL! Improved technical competence of the ME graduate.