Development of a Modular and Scalable Undergraduate Fluid Mechanics Course Using Physical and Virtual Experiments

Instructors in the Schools of Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Aeronautics and Astronautics (AAE) at Purdue University are developing a pedagogy for implementing physical and virtual experiments to create a modular and scalable undergraduate fluid mechanics course. The course will include interactive modules on core fluid mechanics concepts, traditional laboratory experiments, and virtual labs designed to simulate the physical lab. The virtual lab platform allows students to tinker and experiment while receiving quick and targeted feedback, encouraging the development of physical intuition. Development of this innovative course structure will proceed in four stages: 1) Compiling, categorizing, and prioritizing fluid mechanics concepts and mapping them to learning objectives for lab design; 2) Development of virtual lab platforms to simulate fluid mechanics experiments; 3) Implementation of real-time simulation capabilities in the virtual labs to enable experimentation and design; and 4) Synergistic integration of learning materials, traditional laboratory experiments, virtual lab modules, and design challenges into a modular course package. Progress on the first two stages is presented and plans for implementing virtual labs and evaluation using applicable metrics is discussed.