Abstract
This paper presents the re-design of an introduction to engineering lab course at a private urban institution in the Midwest. In the lab portion of the course students were provided with a menu of three design projects, asked to rate their interest in the three projects, and split into small teams according to these ratings. In a given semester the three projects centered on a theme such as water balloon launching technology or small vehicle technology. The average interest rating for all projects was rated as 3.58-3.65 on a 1-5 Likert scale while the average interest rating of the project that each student actually worked on was rated as 4.61-4.8. It is concluded that by simply offering a few choices students will be able to work on a project in which they have significantly more interest. This paper further discusses some of the important effects that choice can have. Follow-up student survey results reveal that students do feel that it is important that course material overlaps with their interests (4.34 Likert rating) while their typical courses only marginally overlap with their interests (3.07 Likert rating). This paper also provides an overview of the various projects, detailed results from the student ratings, and survey results used to gauge how well the project menu appealed to students' interests.