Inquiry-Based Laboratory for Teaching Students Design-of-Experiments

Abstract

Engineering professionals must have the ability to solve experimental open ended problems. Whether they work on physical problems directly or in a leadership role, they must be adept at the analysis and development of process solutions. The ability to address problems that have unknown or multiple possible solutions is essential for the success of new graduates, both in industry and in graduate school. Indeed, the ability to design experiments is a required technical outcome for ABET accredited engineering programs. This paper describes a laboratory course that includes a true inquiry based project. The use of a rubric facilitates teaching students to design an experiment and prepare to execute it. The design of experiments rubric was published previously and will be provided to the attendees, and is available online. A separate rubric that facilitates preparation of and grading of student lab reports is presented in this paper. The project is included as part of a Biochemical Engineering Laboratory Course at San Jose State University.