Abstract:

The Computer Modelling module delivered to the third year Level 8 Mechanical Engineering students in the Dublin Institute of Technology is marked completely by continual assessment. It is delivered in a traditional manner for the first six weeks in that the underlying principles and techniques of the finite difference method are covered in lectures and practical assignments are completed in the weekly computer laboratory classes. A problem based approach is adopted for the remaining six weeks of the semester. The students form their own groups of three and choose a unique project from a list supplied to them. The primary aim is to get the students to use numerical modelling to solve practical Engineering problems drawn from many different areas such as thermal processing in the food industry, heat transfer in engines, fluid modelling using ANSYS CFX and vibration analysis of structures and machines using Matlab.

Each student is required to document their work in a project notebook which must be submitted at the conclusion of the semester. The students are assigned a supervisor who meets them for at least 30 minutes each week to advise them and to monitor their progress. Each individual student is held to account for their contribution to the project effort.

At the end of the semester, each group must create an A1 poster on their particular topic. They are given a standard template to follow and are advised on the structure including Literature Review, Methodologies, Results and Conclusions.
The students are assessed on a ten minute presentation of their project to the module lecturers and their peers. The lecturers and their peers assess their presentations. A comparison is made between the peer and lecturer assessments.
A shorter open session is also held in which the students must present their posters to other staff members and students and a prize is awarded to the best poster.

A focus group with students was conducted. Topics such as the relevance and interest of the material, group dynamics, balance of work load and assessment methods were discussed. The results are presented in the paper.

Keywords:

Problem Based Learning, Poster Presentations, Computer Modelling.