Cramming Twenty Pounds Into A Five Pound Bag: Increasing Curricular Loads On Design Students And Enjoying It
Cary A. Fisher, John Feland
Abstract
the original design of new products. A key element in this course was the use of hands-on experiences through the use of "reverse engineering" projects. ter running successfully for a few years, the course was stable enough to weather a few design modifications. We canvassed our faculty and our Air Force constituents for their suggestions on course content and process enhancements. Unfortunately, the list of suggested enhancements appeared to be overwhelming. The changes ranged from increasing the number of design projects, switching CAD packages, integrating a new textbook, increasing manufacturing content, the list went on. At first glance there were too many needs to be addressed in a single semester. After some careful consideration, the teaming team settled on the following five needs to be addressed in the coming semester. A veteran design instructor made the bulk of the changes to the course. The modifications were the institutionalized in a sustainable fashion by team teaching with two additional instructors the next semester.