Evaluation of Risk in Early Design's Usability in Failure Analysis Instruction

Abstract

When engineers retire, they take their expert knowledge with them. Preservation of this expert knowledge in a usable form is beneficial for the advancement of any engineering field. Risk in Early Design (RED) is one method for preserving expert risk analysis knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to examine the usability of RED when incorporated with a hybrid problem-based and just-in-time inductive teaching method for failure analysis instruction. This test was conducted in a sophomore level lab class at a college in the Midwest in the fall of 2010. The lab was designed to assist in teaching mechanics of materials, and was composed of approximately 200 students. A questionnaire was used to determine the usability and perception of RED. The questionnaire helped to identify areas where the application was hindering student performance. Function selection, in-application instructions, and risk report download and interpretation were identified as areas with poor usability. Initial improvements to the interface were made based upon feedback from the questionnaire.

Meeting Name

2011 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition (2011: Jun. 26-29, Vancouver, BC, Canada)

Department(s)

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Failure analysis; Risk analysis; Risks; Surveys; Usability engineering, Engineering fields; Expert knowledge; Problem-based; Risk in early designs; Sophomore-level; Student performance; Teaching mechanics; Teaching methods, Risk assessment

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

2153-5965

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2011 American Society for Engineering Management (ASEM), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jun 2011

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