Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I have a few students doing projects that require them to build something:

ex: Build a Motion-Activated Guard Robot (BlueBot Project #1)
See the Light by Making a Cell Phone Spectrophotometer

The building piece I view as an engineering project but then I want them to conduct an experiment to see if their device does what they want it to to.

As they write their research and work on their project, should I consider this an "engineering" project vs an experimental project?

Hi sciencewoman,

I don't think there is a wrong answer. However, based on what you've explained, it sounds like the engineering design process might be a better fit. You mentioned that you wanted the students to do an experiment to see if their device works they way they want it to. To me it sounds like this "experiment" is part of the students' testing to see if the product meets their design criteria. If this is the case, then the experiment basically represents the culmination of the engineering design process.