Implementation of project-oriented design-based learning in a second-year mechanical/mechatronics subject

The School of Engineering at Deakin University has undergone a significant transition towards making design and projects the basis for the undergraduate curriculum rather than the more traditional approach based on lectures, texts, and examinations. A new curriculum, called Project-Oriented Design-Based Learning (PODBL), is now in its second year of implementation. The curriculum allows for approximately one half of the total content in the course to be based on design projects. This study seeks to study and evaluate the effectiveness of a second-year mechanical unit in the new PODBL curriculum. SEM200, Machine Design, was developed as a new two-credit-point unit in the Bachelor of Engineering, mechanical and mechatronics streams. It runs in the first semester of the second year, and is takes up one half of the total content in the semester (two credit points). The remaining half of semester is shared between a unit on engineering mathematics and another on fluid mechanics (one credit point each). The main project for this unit is centred on the design of a mechanical-based machine that must perform a defined set of tasks with a defined set of criteria. The project aims to reflect a real-world engineering project environment. Students work in teams. The assessment consists of a team project plan, a team presentation of the final product, an interim report, and a final portfolio. The unit is offered both to on-campus students at Geelong and online. The unit been offered twice – in 2016 and again in 2017. The project for both years was to build a robot following the rules and specifications of the Engineers-Australia Warman Design-and-Build Competition. Forty-eight students completed the unit in 2016, and 100 students completed the unit in 2017. The average mark for 2016 was 66/100, and for 2017, the average mark was 67/100. Student reviews of the unit were mostly positive and the teaching team have learned a number of important lessons that will influence further offerings of this and other PODBL units. SEM200 is the third two-credit-point project-design unit in which mechanical and mechatronics students enrol. The academic performance of the students indicates that the content and assessment is appropriate for second-year students. The student feedback suggests that although the unit involves a great deal of work, students enjoyed both the challenge posed by the unit and the satisfaction of completing a complicated design project in the space of a single semester.