7.2 Teaching Students to Experiment in a Practical Laboratory Course

Jennifer A. J. Burnham

University of Sheffield

This talk will show how the standard way of teaching a practical subject can be amended to reach a more desirable student outcome. Chemistry is an experimental subject but the

standard recipe-based teaching lab programme does not teach students to experiment. In this talk, I will give a brief overview of the benefits and flaws of a recipe lab and will summarise five interventions which have aimed to improve the learning outcomes for students without large cost implications. My findings have led me to believe that any student has the potential to do good quality experimental work if given suitable support that the benefits extend into future studies. My conclusions are that good facilitation of the experiment design process is essential and investment in teaching resource is needed in order to realise learning outcomes associated with developing expertise in experimentation. This work has been an exercise in developing my skills in pedagogic research and scholarship. I will describe the journey and the research methods I have used and finish by highlighting the biggest thing that I have learned – that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing properly.

7.3 Teaching Industrial Experimental Strain Measurement Methods: Problems, Potential, and Practical Application

Rachel Tomlinson and Matteo Di Benedetti

University of Sheffield

The presentation will demonstrate (with audience participation) the development and implementation of a Masters’ level module “Industrial Experimental Methods for Engineering Problems. The module provides students with an understanding of how experimental techniques can be used to solve industrial engineering problems. The students are given practical experience of a range of experimental measurement techniques commonly applied to static and dynamic problems. They use the knowledge gained through experiential learning to design an appropriate experiment to address an industrially relevant problem with limited time and resources. They then execute their experiment safely, with sufficient diligence to obtain results with the required degree of confidence, and reflect on their findings. Examples of the activities are:

installing strain gauges and investigating the errors as a result of their inexperience;

using polarised 3D cinema glasses in the application of photoelasticity, to quantify full-field strains; exploring how the setup of 2D and 3D Digital Image Correlation apparatus, and the subsequent selection of post-processing parameters, influences the measurements made. Raspberry Pi cameras are utilised, allowing multiple workstations at a low cost. conducting a shaker test on a lightweight, flexible structure using white noise excitation and applying signal processing methods to estimate Frequency Response Functions"

7.5 Creating Industry-Ready Engineering Graduates: the University of Liverpool Aerospace Capstone Design Project

Mike Jump

University of Liverpool

The University of Liverpool's Aerospace Engineering Capstone Design module for Year 4 Integrated Masters (MEng) and taught Postgraduate students comprises a one academic year, 30-credit, team-based design, build and test project. It is distinctive in that it features a customer with a real-world scientific requirement for an engineered solution, as well as authentic industrial processes, including input from engineers from major aerospace employers. It features a design gate review process that is recognisable to engineering practitioners. The Capstone Design Module format has improved student feedback and satisfaction, enhances student personal and professional skills and provides a ‘shop-window’ to employers for the University’s graduates. It has also allowed informed curriculum development with input from industry. The primary evidence base for the practice in this module derives from the Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) initiative and the learning outcomes defined in the latest version of UK-SPEC. Engineering Higher Education best practice is also employed in terms of:

• it is an authentic real-world project;

• the assessment and design review process is authentic;

• the students are encouraged to undertake self-reflection and peer-moderation;

• the module includes sustained involvement from a diverse population of academics as well as

• the module providing a sense of discipline and cohort identity.

The presentation will provide an overview of the Capstone project in its current form. Its successes, its failures and its future challenges will be described. The presentation will also provide a brief overview into how such projects have provided the inspiration for an initiative being developed by a Working Group, sourced from the Royal Aeronautical Society’s General Aviation Group, to take such projects into the realm of 'human-scale' aircraft design, build and flight test.

7.7 Closing Plenary

Andrew Garrard

University of Sheffield