Interdisciplinary (99) Faculty in a Mechanical, Materials Science, and Aerospace Engineering Department are incorporating the use of Lego (TM) MindStorms robotics kits into several courses to support a new robotics curriculum strand. Principles of multidisciplinary design, feedback control systems, and mechatronics that have typically been treated in a disconnected fashion are being unified under this robotics theme. Modules developed for teaching robotics at Drexel University and Case Western Reserve University are being adapted for this new curriculum; and the approach is enhancing the learning of interrelated concepts from mechanical, electrical and computational systems. Moreover, students receive important tangible feedback from physically experiencing the products of their own work. Finally, the impact of this project is being extended to teachers and students from neighboring secondary schools in the form of a workshop on implementing robotics concepts in their classrooms.
