This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)
This engineering education research award to Auburn University will develop real world case studies of engineering problems which are of high current importance, such as energy and the environment. The case studies will include topics from other disciplines such as business and ethics, thus making the assignments more like real world situations. They will be used in a variety of classes and their effectiveness in enhancing student learning will be measured. All of this will be undertaken in partnership with Hampton University, a Historically Black institution. The results in the form of the case studies, instructions on how to use them, and how to measure their impact on student learning will be packaged and made available through the instructor support website at litee.auburn.edu/iss. The results will also be presented at technical conferences and published in professional journals. The goal is to better prepare students for the practice of engineering through involvement in real life engineering problems. These techniques when used in the freshman year are expected to increase student?s interest in engineering and in subsequent years they will enhance the number of students who complete engineering degrees and are ready to fill engineering jobs.
