Introducing and Assessing Laboratory Experience in a Numerical Methods Course for Engineers

Several low cost, low space, low setup time experiments were developed and implemented in an undergraduate course in Numerical Methods for Engineers. The analysis and interpretation of the collected experimental data encompassed most of the mathematical procedures covered in the course. This paper describes these experiments and shows how they were used throughout the course. The effect of introducing experiments in the course was quantitatively and qualitatively surveyed via student satisfaction surveys over a twosemester period. The results of the student surveys indicate high student satisfaction, especially in the areas of applying programming concepts, problem formulation, and relevance to their engineering major.