MADE: a multidisciplinary computational framework for aerospace engineering education
Author(s)
Seth, Arjit
Redonnet, Stephane
Liem, Rhea P
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Contribution: A multidisciplinary computational framework to support undergraduate engineering education is introduced. It is posed as an open-source tool that students can use to understand and apply computational methods commonly required in engineering problems. Background: This framework development is motivated by past experiences of teaching courses as segregated disciplines within an aerospace engineering curriculum. Reviewing pedagogical approaches shows that current university practices do not adequately emphasize or demonstrate the importance of interdisciplinary relationships. This framework is also motivated by the apparent need for engineering graduates to study these relationships by learning computational engineering via programming, in which proficiency is becoming increasingly important for their future careers. Intended Outcomes: 1) To effectively teach multidisciplinary engineering concepts to students via the integration of cross-disciplinary content from various courses and 2) To improve computational and programming literacy among undergraduate students in engineering studies. Application Design: A multidisciplinary design optimization approach is adopted to develop a framework called Multidisciplinary Aircraft Design Education (MADE), which provides functionalities for studying engineering disciplines within a computational programming environment. MADE makes the related course contents more accessible and intuitive to students by using reactive computational notebooks in lectures, tutorials, and assignments. Findings: MADE is assessed based on the learning outcomes and feedback from undergraduate students of two courses within an aerospace engineering curriculum. These assessments indicate an improved understanding of multidisciplinary concepts and their applications via computational programming, as reflected in the positive responses from the students.
Date Issued
2023-12
Date Acceptance
2023-05-27
Citation
IEEE Transactions on Education, 2023, 66 (6), pp.622-631
ISSN
0018-9359
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Start Page
622
End Page
631
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Transactions on Education
Volume
66
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2023 The Authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/te.2023.3281825
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2023-06-21