Redesigning Engineering with the Studio Method

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Redesigning Engineering with the Studio Method

12/26/2001

Harvey Mudd College, an elite undergraduate college with an emphasis on engineering, mathematics, and science, has instituted a studio method approach in its introductory engineering curriculum. The first engineering course, called E4—engineering design—was transformed last year into a project-based course in which students work in small groups to design engineering solutions, analyze examples of good engineering, and learn the fundamentals of engineering design.

Harvey Mudd’s approach draws on the methodology long used in the fine arts and architecture fields. Within the hands-on approach of the studio method, students work in small groups, mentored by teachers who move about the room like artistic masters looking over students’ shoulders.

Students learn from one another as they work through complex, open-ended projects. Something unique about the use of the studio method in this case is that the students are first- and second-year undergraduates with little or no background in engineering.

Their first exposure to engineering concepts and design comes in the form of “mini-lectures” and an opportunity to develop solutions on their own.

“The idea was that rather than us telling them what to do, we would give them an objective and let them work with it,” says Patrick Little, associate professor of engineering management. “This emulates real-world scenarios and allows them to develop an understanding of research design methodology.”

Because there are no lectures in the new course configuration, students are expected to ask questions if they have them. Little, who co-teaches the course with associate professor Mary Cardenas, says, “We’ve moved to a series of ‘just-in-time mini-lectures’ that allow us to intervene when appropriate. It’s interesting that after a while, students become confident and engrossed in their projects enough to wave us away if they’re in the middle of something they don’t want to interrupt.” The mini-lectures cover such topics as conflict management and project management tools. Group discussions focus on overcoming a design problem several of the groups encountered; ethics is also part of the ongoing discussion.

The course consists of two short assignments and a lengthy major project that consumes half of the semester. The shorter assignments last for one to three weeks and incorporate learning functional analysis skills as well as writing and basic research skills. In a recent semester, students were given a deserted island scenario. Stranded with only a box of flares and assorted debris, they were asked to build a working clock using only the available materials. For another assignment, students were given an object to deconstruct. None of the items were expensive, but all of them, from an Etch-a-Sketch to a disposable camera, represented design innovations. In the process of cataloguing the parts and determining their functions, students learned engineering fundamentals, a language for design, and an appreciation for good (and bad) design.