The curriculum goals of the unit, as currently stated in the catalog or other departmental documents, are as follows: (from the catalog)

"The educational objective of the undergraduate program in mechanical engineering is to prepare graduates so that, within three years of graduation, they will have successfully established themselves in professional careers and/or obtained a graduate degree, and they will have begun to generate new knowledge or exercise leadership in their positions to the benefit of society.

Each graduate of the mechanical engineering program is expected to:

  • apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering;
  • identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems;
  • use computers to solve engineering problems;
  • use modern instrumentation;
  • design and conduct experiments, including the use of probability and statistics;
  • analyze and interpret data;
  • design systems, components, or processes to meet desired needs;
  • understand the processes used to manufacture products;
  • understand contemporary issues in mechanical engineering;
  • make effective oral presentations;
  • write effectively;
  • function effectively on multi-disciplinary teams;
  • understand professional and ethical responsibility;
  • understand the impact of engineering in a global and societal context; and
  • engage in lifelong learning."

During the last review period, what revisions, if any, have been made to your curriculum goals as stated in the CU course catalog? What is your schedule for such curriculum review?

Based on feedback provided during the last ABET review, we changed the wording of our design outcome from "design thermal and mechanical systems" to "design systems".  That change reflects the variation in competency with thermal vs. mechanical systems that our graduates are likely to gain through the program, depending on the specific emphasis of their senior design project.  That said, we still have an ongoing commitment to providing students with a basic foundation in both areas through our MCEN3025 and MCEN3032 coursework, even if they do not continue on to more advanced project work related to both fields.  The curriculum goals are reviewed each year by the Undergraduate Committee, as part of our catalog update process. The Undergraduate Committee is made up of faculty, staff and student representatives.  Periodically, our Industrial Advisory Council also reviews our course objectives.

Summarize the means you have employed to assess your success in attaining those curriculum goals.

The primary means that we use to assess our success in attaining the specified curriculum goals are:

  • A cyclical course review process, which includes focus groups and task forces conducted for each core undergraduate course once every three years. 
  • FCQ reporting of students' self-perceptions of their competency related to course learning outcomes.
  • Data from pre/post-test concept inventories administered in select core classes.
  • Senior/post-grad/alumni/employer survey data.

Specify what actions you have taken as a result of employing your assessment protocols.

In an effort to increase the overall quality of undergraduate instruction, the department has committed to limiting all courses other than Senior Design to a class size of 150 with an ideal class size < 125.  That goal will be accomplished by continuing to encourage students to take advantage of the split fall/spring course offerings and splitting large courses into two different sections during a given semester, when needed.  That change is a direct response to faculty, student, and advisory board feedback related to the difficulties of engaging students in extremely large, lecture based classes.

Following-up on data collected from multiple years of senior surveys, FCQ results, and informal student feedback, the Undergraduate Committee has also decided to proactively move forward with changes to both MCEN3032 and the MCEN3037/4037/4047 sequence even though they are not up for formal review until AY 14-15.  The changes to MCEN3032 have primarily focused on working with Environmental Engineering to hire an instructor who can take ownership for the class and teach it consistently, which should address issues related to lack of consistency in both teaching style and content.  For MCEN3037/4037/4047, there appears to be both a disconnect between the lecture based course (MCEN3037) and the subsequent lab courses (MCEN4037/4047), and a significant amount of overlap between the two lab courses.  The department has coordinated with the Lab Module Engineer in the ITLL to begin the process of revising the curriculum for MCEN4037, with the goal of moving away from a "cookbook" type format for the class and towards a format that encourages students to engage with the problem solving process.  Over the next 1-2 years, our goal is to rework the full three course sequence in such a way that the lectures and labs are combined into either one 4-credit course or two 2-credit courses. 

College assessment results have indicated that there is room for improvement in how our department covers topics related to the context of engineering and current events.  Those topics will be featured prominently in the new ME Professionalism Seminar that is scheduled for its first iteration during Fall 2014.  The seminar will not replace current efforts to encourage ME faculty to integrate discussions about engineering context and current events into their course offerings, but will serve as a supplement to what is already happening in that area. 

Task Force Feedback from AY 13-14

  • MCEN2023: Statics - Course content, basic structure, and learning objectives all continue to be relevant.  Would like to add a recitation again at some point, but not sure when it will be feasible given current enrollment levels.  Discussed condensing learning objectives to make them higher level. 
  • MCEN2024: Materials - Students seemed unclear as to how this course connects with the rest of the ME curriculum and with their future careers as Mechanical Engineers.  Discussed the need to include more real world examples as part of the class, so that the connection is clearer.  Faculty committed to improving that component in the future.  Also discussed the importance of upper division tech electives focused on material science, so that there is a next step for students with an interest in expanding their knowledge set.  Discussed condensing learning objectives to make them higher level.
  • MCEN3012: Thermodynamics - Discussed whether second semester sophomores would reasonably be prepared for the course.  Decided that was a valid concern, but also that there wasn’t a good alternative because of the need to split course enrollments between semesters.  Would like to add a project back into the class at some point, but not sure when that will be possible.  In the meantime, students appreciated the use of peer interaction, open-ended reading quizzes, screencasts, and D2L to add an interactive component to the class. 
  • MCEN3025: Component Design - Disagreement among students on whether the amount of solid mechanics review at the beginning of the course was helpful.  Some found it to be very helpful and key to their success in the course.  Others thought that students should be responsible for retaining that material from MCEN2063.  Students noted that it was possible to successfully complete the project for the semester without applying the theoretical work taught in the course.  Discussed incorporating either lab exercises or a more complex project into the class, to emphasize the importance of failure analysis.  Added MCEN1025 as a prerequisite, so that students completing the course during future terms will have a working knowledge of SolidWorks.  Learning objectives need to be condensed, but will wait until there’s a consistent faculty member willing to take the lead on the course.
  • MCEN3030: Computational Methods - Main point of discussion was lack of student preparation related to MATLAB.  Discussed concerns about GEEN1300 not providing sufficient preparation in that area and about the amount of knowledge that’s lost between freshman and junior year.  Ideal format for an introductory computing class would be primarily MATLAB with a brief overview of C.  Faculty noted that understanding and practicing basic programming concepts is more important than the specific languages covered, but that the students didn’t seem to be learning/retaining those concepts.  Possible options for improving students’ preparation for the course include requiring that they complete the accompanying computer lab for APPM2360 or working with the College to revamp GEEN1300.  Discussions related to that topic are ongoing.  Replaced approved substitute of APPM3050 with approved substitute of APPM4650, at the recommendation of Applied Math Faculty.