The Fundamental Objectives of Engineering Instructional Laboratories
Copied from "The Role of the Laboratory in Undergraduate Engineering Education" by Lyle D. Feisel and Albert J. Rosa, Journal of Engineering Education, January 2005, pp. 121-130.

By completing the laboratories in the engineering undergraduate curriculum, you will be able to...

Objective 1: Instrumentation. 

Apply appropriate sensors, instrumentation, and/or software tools to make measurements of physical quantities.

Objective 2: Models. 

Identify the strengths and limitations of theoretical models as predictors of real-world behaviors. This may include evaluating whether a theory adequately describes a physical event and establishing or validating a relationship between measured data and underlying physical principles.

Objective 3: Experiment. 

Devise an experimental approach, specify appropriate equipment and procedures, implement these procedures, and interpret the resulting data to characterize an engineering material, component, or system.

Objective 4: Data Analysis. 

Demonstrate the ability to collect, analyze, and interpret data, and to form and support conclusions. Make order of magnitude judgments and use measurement unit systems and conversions.

Objective 5: Design. 

Design, build, or assemble a part, product, or system, including using specific methodologies, equipment, or materials; meeting client requirements; developing system specifications from requirements; and testing and debugging a prototype, system, or process using appropriate tools to satisfy requirements.

Objective 6: Learn from Failure. 

Identify unsuccessful outcomes due to faulty equipment, parts, code, construction, process, or design, and then re-engineer effective solutions.

Objective 7: Creativity. 

Demonstrate appropriate levels of independent thought, creativity, and capability in real-world problem solving.

Objective 8: Psychomotor. 

Demonstrate competence in selection, modification, and operation of appropriate engineering tools and resources.

Objective 9: Safety. 

Identify health, safety, and environmental issues related to technological processes and activities, and deal with them responsibly.

Objective 10: Communication. 

Communicate effectively about laboratory work with a specific audience, both orally and in writing, at levels ranging from executive summaries to comprehensive technical reports.

Objective 11: Teamwork. 

Work effectively in teams, including structure individual and joint accountability; assign roles, responsibilities, and tasks; monitor progress; meet deadlines; and integrate individual contributions into a final deliverable.

Objective 12: Ethics in the Laboratory. 

Behave with highest ethical standards, including reporting information objectively and interacting with integrity.

Objective 13: Sensory Awareness. 

Use the human senses to gather information and to make sound engineering judgments in formulating conclusions about real-world problems.