Using design-build projects to teach and reinforce engineering skills to first-year engineering students

At Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, a series of hands-on and early-design projects have been incorporated into the first-year curriculum. The purpose of these projects is to introduce students to the engineering design process, teamwork, technical writing and other basic engineering skills. As part of the on-going implementation of these projects, we have recently introduced a series of small design-build projects into our first semester engineering course. This paper discusses the development and implementation of the project (MacGyver) box program from conception through implementation. Specific topics include the design of project assignments, the project box inventory, the evaluation of projects, and the stepping-up from the smaller first semester projects to the open-ended second semester projects. The paper also addresses responses from students and lessons learned during program implementation.