Design of an engineering experiment and data driven design in secondary education

Pre-tests and post tests were used to assess the effectiveness of an engineering high school unit on experimental design and data driven design. The engineering data acquisition unit examined in this report used project based learning to teach the design of an engineering experiment and data driven design as part of the engineering design process. The project consists of the design of a building that can safely withstand an earthquake. Students construct, test and collect data on baseline buildings, with and without load using a shaker table and data acquisition. Students' then design experiments to evaluate design modifications that will meet the customer's needs. Overall, although the number of participants was limited, the survey instruments indicated that understanding of experimental design improved among high school students participating in the unit. Based on this pilot implementation of survey instruments, some of the survey questions were clarified.