Incorporating an Entrepreneurial Mindset in a Freshman Mechanical Engineering Course

This paper presents a case of incorporating Project-Based Learning (PBL) and EntrepreneuriallyMinded Learning (EML) to foster an entrepreneurial mindset in a freshman-level, introductory course in mechanical engineering within an ABET accredited program. The course is designed to teach the basic tools and skills of engineering such as graphics communication, solid modeling, and programming, with a large term project where students design and build an engineering system. The teaching method included two novel elements that were introduced in Fall 2015: (1) the tools and methods for systems design were taught using a Project-Based Learning module, and (2) the term project was changed from a design and build project to an entrepreneurial engineering project. The resulting designs were highly varied within the class and of higher quality than the more traditional approach, where the instructor assigned the same problem to each team. Index Terms Entrepreneurial Mindset, EntrepreneuriallyMinded Learning, Project-Based Learning BACKGROUND AND SETTING This paper presents a case of implementing Project-Based Learning (PBL) and Entrepreneurially-Minded Learning (EML) methods into a freshman-level, introductory Mechanical Engineering course at Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech). This section provides the environment and context within which first year pedagogy innovations were deployed