A Team Build-Test-Redesign Project in an Engineering Statics Course

: Typically, engineering statics is a lecture-only course without any lab section. Students passively listen to lectures and then do their homework assignments. It is commonly agreed that engineering statics is a difficult and stressful course and we need to motivate students for active learning by different approaches. We have introduced a team design project in our engineering statics course. We not only wanted to motivate students to actively learn statics but also help students get familiar with the process of design projects and to accumulate some hands-on experiences in conducting a design project. This project was to design-build-test-redesign a wooden structure. In this project, students worked in a team, designed, built and tested their first wooden structure. The maximum compressive force was recorded when the wooden structure fractured or lost stability. Students were required to observe and describe the failure of their designs and then redesigned and retested their wooden structures. In the end, they were required to write a technical report. These activities helped them to get familiar with the engineering design process, gain some hands-on experience for conducting a design project, and motivate them to actively study engineering statics.