Development of a mechatronics studio course in mechanical engineering

This paper reports the development of a mechatronics studio course in the Mechanical Engineering (ME) undergraduate program at Georgia Southern University. The course covers three broad areas: mechatronic instrumentation, computer based data acquisition and analysis, and microcontroller programming and interfacing. This is a required 2-credit course in the ME program. The course is delivered in studio format for four contact hours per week with one hour of lecture and three hours of interactive sessions of problem solving and laboratory experiments. For each topic covered, students get the theoretical background and the hands-on experience in the laboratory setting. Both formative and summative assessment of the students' performance in the course are done as a part of the overall assessment and evaluation plan of the department for ABET accreditation of the ME program. Both direct and indirect forms of assessment are considered. The paper reports the details of the course materials and the results of assessment. The positive response of the students and their performance in the course are encouraging. Future steps of the continuous improvement process for the course are also discussed.