Design Project for Advanced Mechanics of Materials

A semester-long team design project was implemented in an advanced mechanics of materials course for both undergraduate and graduate students. The project involved the mechanics of a bicycle crank arm and built on earlier coursework. Student teams developed specifications and design criteria, performed analysis and design, developed validation experiments, compared experimental results with predictions, and reviewed finite element model predictions from students in a different course. Students completed an anonymous survey at the end of the project, which indicated that learning experiences obtained from the project were valued as much as listening to lectures and working homework problems. The survey results also indicate that undergraduate and graduate students have different attitudes about learning methods; with graduate students valuing a much wider range of learning methods.