Collaborative learning in undergraduate dynamics courses: Some examples

At Penn State University, we are in the midst of revising the way undergraduate dynamics is taught through an approach we call Interactive Dynamics. Interactive Dynamics is designed to engage students in a collaborative learning environment in which they also perform experiments. Students generate and analyze data, observe graphic representations of the data, and construct as well as interact with simulations. In this paper we will discuss some examples of "activities" we have created for Interactive Dynamics. These activities address not only those attributes that ABET, industry, and NSF would like to see in an engineer, but also embody the intellectual aspects of mechanics and dynamics beyond those essential skills needed to succeed in the engineering workplace.