Abstract:

Engineering design (ED) in high schools is taught mainly through project-based learning in which students solve design problems by applying the learned concepts and make products that implement their designs. In practice, student projects often prioritize producing the product at the expense of learning outcomes or concentrate on learning without creating a product. Educators call for new approaches that helping to avoid such imbalances. One proposal to enhance learning in school design projects is to adopt the reverse engineering (RE) approach. In this approach, the students learn an existing technological system through its disassembling and analysis and then use the acquired knowledge for the development of a new system. Though the advantages of the RE approach are recognized, educators note that these practices could be complex and time-consuming. Another proposal is the learning-by-making (LbyM) approach focusing on making activities directed at creating a product. The critics of this approach note that while fostering creativity and technical skills, it can lead to intuitive rather than knowledge-based design solutions. In this paper, we propose and explore an approach that combines RE and LbyM approaches. A course “Unmanned Aircraft Systems” (UAS) was conducted to 12th-grade students majoring in aerospace engineering. The course included lectures, workshop practice with quad drones, and a project. In the workshop, the students analyzed design solutions implemented in the PC fan. They learned about propellers and their aerodynamic properties, and do practical activities. The students, while working in pairs, dissected PC fans and inquired into design solutions implemented in them. They investigated the dependency of the fan's functionality on the blade shape. Then, the students redesigned the fan’s blades aiming to increase the airflow intensity. Finally, the students printed the blades, assembled the propeller, and tested it. In the project, they produced a new propeller and replaced the existing one in the drone. Finally, they took a knowledge test and submitted project reports. Our educational study evaluated the implementation of the proposed approach in the course focusing on its contribution to understanding engineering design concepts, and on the students’ reflections. We followed up two course runs in 2019 and 2020 (with 39 and 34 twelfth graders). We evaluated the contribution of the course by using pre-course and post-course tests, attitude questionnaires, interviews, and in-class observations. We evaluated students’ reflections based on their answers to the attitude questionnaire. Results of the tests indicated a significant gain in students’ knowledge of concepts related to aerial systems and their design that was especially high in the first and third groups, i.e. the groups that performed RE activities. As found, the course facilitated the development of students’ self-dependent learning, collaboration, and inquiry skills, as well as their creativity and learning motivation. This contribution was most prominent in the first group. While all the groups positively evaluated the contribution of the course, the evaluations of the first group were the highest. Our study shows that the proposed approach allows to introduce high school students to the advanced concepts and technologies of UAS. We recommend further exploration of the approach in school technology education.

Keywords:

Design education, high school, reverse engineering, learning by making, project-based learning.