HU Investigates Case Studies in Engineering Course

Hampton, VA -The Hampton University Department of Electrical Engineering recently received an education research grant. The $116,011 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) was awarded to the department to investigate the use of case studies in undergraduate engineering education for a three-year period.

“The grant will help us investigate the effectiveness of using case studies in engineering to improve student learning,” stated Dr. Qiang Le, HU assistant professor and principal investigator of the grant.

Le will investigate the use of case studies in an Introduction to Engineering course offered in the spring semester. Le will assess how students improve their learning based on the use of the case studies. Each case study emphasizes student learning, styles and behaviors.

The classes will investigate the STS-51L Challenger mission case study and the Lorn Manufacturing case study.  The cases focus on ethics and safety, which are major learning objectives of the introductory course.

Two external evaluators from Auburn University, who are leading this collaborative program with HU, and the University of West Georgia, will use quantitative and qualitative assessments to analyze the effects of the case studies.

“We hope to see a strong correlation between case studies and student learning in engineering,” stated Le.