Course modules designed for creativity training in materials Engineering education

Yi Hu, Amy Shumin Chen, Yung Yu Chen, Chao Yang Yang, Ching Long Yeh

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

One of the challenges for us is to excite creativity and innovation in the Engineering education by emerging the design courses. The objectives of designing courses for engineering is to teach students the aesthetics and critical thinking with creativity. In this study, we merged two design-based courses modules into the original course curriculum to promote the creativity of students in the field of material engineering. The course module (I) "User-Centered Design-Problem Definition" was offered based on the product and user oriented design aspects. The other course module "Experiential Manufacturing and Material Aesthetics" was proceeded through project-based learning activities. The two course modules were combined into relevant course, Project Laboratory (1) & (2), on the spring semester (2016) as an elective course to undergraduate students. Students should submit their research portfolios and final report of the program with a device or material system and they also needed to show their achievements by oral or poster presentation in a workshop. Summative assessments of student's performance as well as the effectiveness determined for taking the Project Laboratory (1) & (2) courses was evaluated at the end of the semester. In this study, students' creativity were assessed by means of a rubric adapted from the Consensual Assessment Technique (ITC). There were 87 students taking the Project Laboratory (1) & (2) courses in the third and fourth years, respectively. Among them 29 students attended the project under guidance with the two course modules and achieved a higher average score (>3.0/4.0) in every assessed criterion than other students. "Motivation" seems to be the key for students to bring their potential into play. Students became more confident to face and deal with the laboratory problems after training with the two design-based course modules. It is widely accepted for students' comment that introduction of the design-based courses make the course more lively and interesting. These course modules make them to think about the origin properties of materials and creativity in applications.

Original languageEnglish
JournalASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
Volume2017-June
StatePublished - 24 06 2017
Externally publishedYes
Event124th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition - Columbus, United States
Duration: 25 06 201728 06 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© American Society for Engineering Education, 2017.

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