Transcript Development of a Multidisciplinary Curriculum for

INTEGRATING “SMART” MATERIALS
INTO A FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING
CURRICULUM: A CASE STUDY
Luke Penrod
 Diana Talley
 Jeff Froyd
 Rita Caso
 Dimitris Lagoudas
 Terry Kohutek

http://crcd.tamu.edu
Development of a Multidisciplinary
Curriculum for Intelligent Systems
(MCIS)
Rita M. Caso
 Jeffery E. Froyd
 Dimitris C. Lagoudas
 Othon K. Rediniotis
 Thomas W. Strganac
 John L. Valasek
 John D. Whitcomb

Work was partially supported by NSF CRCD Award #
0088118. Their support is gratefully acknowledged.
Goals of MCIS Effort at TAMU
Develop new curriculum track on
Intelligent Systems emphasizing
aerospace technologies.
 Increase knowledge and interest in
using smart materials to design
intelligent systems.
 Include a 2 semester design course and
a one-on-one directed studies course
with a faculty member.
 Offer an “Intelligent Systems Track”
Certificate.



15 hour program
Includes recognition on transcript
Texas A&M University
URICA and design team
Synthetic Jet Actuator
Courses Impacted

AERO 101 - Introduction to Aerospace Engineering (F01)

ENGR 111/112 - Foundations of Engineering I/II (F01/S02)

ENGR 211/213/214 - Basic engineering science courses (S02, F02)

AERO 302 - Aerospace Engineering Laboratory I (S02)

AERO 304/306 - Structural Mechanics I/II (F01, F02)

AERO 401/402 - Senior design sequence (F03, S04)

AERO 404 - Mechanics of Advanced Aerospace Structures (F02)

AERO 405 - Aerospace Structural Design (F01)

AERO 420 - Aeroelasticity (S02)

AERO 489* - Special Topic: MEMS for Aerospace Engineering (F01)

AERO 489* - Special Topic: Aerospace Intelligent Systems (S02)
*New Course
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Foundations of Engineering (ENGR 111/112)
Activities with Shape Memory Alloys (SMA)
Butterfly Demonstration:
SMA Linear Actuator
Heat Engine Demo:
SMA Efficiency/
Thermodynamics
Thermobile™ Demo:
SMA Properties/
Thermodynamics
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Stiquito Project:
Application of
SMA
ENGR 111/112 Project
Walking Robot


Robot (Stiquito) specifications:

Must be actuated by SMAs

Goal is maximum distance in 3
minutes

Only contact can come from ground

Must be an autonomous system
Assigned to 11 four-person student
teams in ENGR 112 (24 teams participated
in Engr 111 in the previous semester)

Maximum distance traveled was
48cm.
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How did it happen?



Luke Penrod, graduate student, volunteered to develop
materials and projects for first-year engineering course and
coordinated material development.
Diana Talley, undergraduate student on summer research
project, assembled possible materials on shape memory
alloys (SMAs) for use in first-year engineering course. One
of the possible projects was a Stiquito robot kit that was
commercially available.
Jeff Froyd approached Terry Kohutek, first-year engineering
course coordinator, about incorporating SMA material into
ENGR 111 and Terry accepted
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How did it happen? (continued)
Luke worked with Terry to develop specifications
for a Stiquito robot project.
 Luke developed a PowerPoint presentation on
SMAs.



Showed applications for SMAs, e.g., SMA jacket that
remembers its shape
Described the material structure of a SMA
Luke worked with Terry to implement and
evaluate student robot project.
 After two semesters, Terry now uses the Stiquito
project and PowerPoint presentation in his class.

Texas A&M University
CRCD Intelligent Systems Curriculum Impact
Assessment and Evaluation of YEAR 1 OUTCOMES-Design
Knowledge
(Implemented1 and/or Projected )
Levels at which Implemented ( i.e., Fr=Freshman, Soph=Sophomore, Sr=Senior)
FOCI
STUDENT OUTCOME MEASUREMENT
q
Interest
q
q
q
Content
Knowledge
q
Engineering &
Design Process
Skills
q
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q
q
Retention in Major
Pre-Post Attitude Survey results (Fr, Soph)
Enrollment in Project courses
Targeted class activities feedback (Fr)
Targeted parts of class-embedded tests,
assignments & projects
Design Knowledge baseline pre-test (Fr, Sr)
Engineering /Design Process Performance
assessment (Fr)
Design Product assessment
CRCD Intelligent Systems Curriculum
Impact on Design Knowledge

To be examine changes over time in students’ design
knowledge, benchmark measures were taken for:
• Freshmen: Beginning and ending first year
• Seniors: Beginning 1st semester of Aero Design and
ending 2nd semester of Aero Design

A slightly adapted version of the TIDEE Team-Based
Design Knowledge Assessment Test and Scoring
Rubric was used to measure
• Engineering Design Process
• Teamwork
• Communication.
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CRCD Intelligent Systems Curriculum Impact on
Design Knowledge:Team Design Process, Teamwork
& Communication1
Freshman vs. Senior Baselines ( Early Fall 2001)
Scores Scaled 0 – 5.5, with 0=no knowledge & 5.5=exceptional knowledge
AERO CRCD
Students
Freshmen2
(n=88)
Seniors3
(n=23)
0—5.5
Scale
Mean
Scores 4
Design
Process
Team
Work
Communication*
2.71
2.59
1.62
Std. Dev.
1.14
0.95
0.76
Mean
Scores
3.30
2.30
2.04
Std. Dev.
1.15
0.79
0.85
*Validity in question.
Question universally misinterpreted.
1 TAMU AERO CRCD Adapted TIDEE Project Mid Program Assessment Instrument #1, Design knowledge
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CRCD Intelligent Systems Curriculum
Impact on Design Knowledge : Freshman
Benchmarks
Scores Scaled 0 – 5.5, with 0=no knowledge & 5.5=exceptional knowledge
Scores
Freshman Team-Based Design Knowledge Pre & Post**
Assessment
5.5
*Validity in question.
4.5
Question universally misinterpreted.
3.5
2.5
1.5
0.5
-0.5
Design
Teamwork *
Communication*
Question Topics
Pre Test
.**Post Test was given to a different set of Freshman
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Post Test
CRCD Intelligent Systems Curriculum
Impact on Design Knowledge : Senior
Benchmarks
Scores Scaled 0 – 5.5, with 0=no knowledge & 5.5=exceptional knowledge
Senior Team-Based Design Knowledge : Pre & Post
Assessment
5.5
*Validity in question.
Score
4.5
Question universally misinterpreted.
3.5
2.5
1.5
0.5
-0.5
Design
Teamwork
Communication*
Question Topic
Pre Test
Post Test
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