A uniquely collaborative learning experience at Pennsylvania College of Technology, dubbed the “Soccer Ball Experiment,” helped civil engineering technology and surveying technology students and members of the Wildcat women’s soccer team acquire useful professional tools during the spring semester.
When weather finally allowed, the civil engineering technology and surveying technology students used a variety of instruments – including small unmanned aerial systems (drones), the Global Positioning System, total stations, a tape measure, an accelerometer and smartphones – to collect data while the student-athletes and their coach took turns striking a soccer ball on Penn College’s Madigan Library lawn.
The data was used to measure the accuracy of ball placement with respect to targets on the grass and to describe the dynamic properties (such as position, velocity and acceleration) of the launched ball. In addition to using technical skills to acquire that information, the students completed a reflection assignment that required them to assess how they employed their own collaboration, communication and critical thinking skills.
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