Development of an educational device and accompanying laboratory series for instruction in an undergraduate engineering course

The literature in engineering education research suggests that a cohesive series of laboratory exercises improves the learning and retention of the material presented in a laboratory course. The literature presents various devices that serve as the focus of a cohesive laboratory series. These devices and their accompanying laboratory series are designed to engage the students and generate enthusiasm in the course. One such device is the Haptic Paddle: a low cost single degree-of-freedom force-reflecting joystick that has enjoyed successful implementations in laboratory courses at other academic institutions. This thesis presents an adaptation of the Haptic Paddle and its accompanying laboratory series to meet specific goals for implementation in the laboratory component of the MECH 343: Modeling Dynamic Systems course offered at Rice University. Additionally, the device was developed to be an attractive platform for dissemination to colleagues who are interested in collaborating in engineering education research.