Philosophy of ABC (Artifact Based Curriculum) Approach:
In the fall of 1990 a course called "Mechanical Dissection (ME99)"
was initiated at Stanford University for freshmen and sophomore level undergraduate
engineering students to help them become familiar with the machines and
mechanisms that surround them. The course is built around a series of mechanical
dissection exercises, where dissection referes to the disassembling and
reassembling of a mechanical artifact. Students participate, both individually
and in groups in these in-depth dissection exercises so that "experience
(may be) the mother of knowledge" (after Cervantes).
The first two papers listed below describe in more detail the philosophy,
learning objectives and implementation of the ME99 course. The next three
papers discuss the dissection approach to introducing freshman students
to engineering in the context of other approaches.
- S.D. Sheppard, "Mechanical Dissection:
An experience in how things work," Proceedings of the Engineering
Education: Curriculum Innovation & Integration, Jan. 6-10, 1992, Santa
Barbara, CA (invited paper). [23k]
- S.D. Sheppard, J. Tsai, "A Note on Mechanical
Dissection with Pre-college Students," New Approaches to Undergraduate
Engineering Education IV, July 26-31, 1992, Santa Barbara, CA. [13k]
- A.M. Agogino, S.D. Sheppard, A. Oladipupo, "Making Connections
to Engineering During the First Two Years," IEEE Proceedings of the
Frontiers in Education Conference, Nov. 13, 1992, Nashville, TN, pp 563-569.
- R. Jenison, S.D. Sheppard, "Freshman Engineering
Design Experiences: an Organizational Framework" with Table,
in press, International Journal of Engineering Education. [35k, 9k]
- R. Jenison, S.D. Sheppard, et al., "Examples
of Freshman Design Education," in press, International Journal
of Engineering Education. [71k]
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