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ContentsINTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING -- A FIRST YEAR COURSE
Ram Narasimhan*, Director of Advising
College of Engineering
University of Miami
P.O. Box 248294
Coral Gables, FL 33124-0620
Tel.: (305) 284-3100, e-mail:
ram@eng.miami.edu
M. Lewis Temares and Samuel S. Lee
College of Engineering, University of Miami
The College of Engineering at the University of Miami has embarked on a new program called IMPaCT (Integrated Math, Physics and Communication Track). The object of the program is to demonstrate the relevance of mathematics, physics and English to each other and more importantly to engineering. Towards this end a sequence of courses was developed for the freshman student. This paper discusses the content of these courses and our experience in teaching these courses.
Engineering education in the United States is under going tremendous changes. These changes have been brought about by a variety of reasons like, the loss of competitiveness of the American industry and the large dropout rate of students from freshmen engineering class. Many of the students choose engineering as their career attracted by the products of engineering design that they deal with everyday1. Most of these students also join engineering thinking that it is different from sciences. However, the engineering curriculum in the United States for the past three decades has been such that the first two years of their students involve basic sciences like mathematics, physics and chemistry. Whatever engineering they do at this time is engineering science classes rather than design. This initial dose of basic science with no sign of creativity that is called for in engineering, leads to doubts in their minds about their choice of engineering as their career. This along with the rigorous requirements of engineering education leads to a large dropout rate during the freshman and sophomore years. Estimates of dropout rates are as high as 50 percent at different Universities2.
Like many other engineering institutions in this country, the College of Engineering at the University of Miami has encountered problems with student retention, particularly for the freshmen class. During their transition from high school to college, freshmen students often have difficulty adjusting to the new environment, especially with regard to study habits, prioritization of tasks, and time management. Many students fail their first calculus course and lose interest in engineering. Many of the students who have successfully completed the mathematics sequence are still unable to apply their math skills in solving physical problems (i.e., word problems). Several initiatives have been taken to help students adjust, such as proactive advising, early intervention, peer counseling, tutoring and the "Freshman Forgiveness Program." All these efforts have produced some positive results. However, to educate students effectively and provide them with an engineering education for a changing world, the entire curriculum requires careful review and re-design with the development of an innovative delivery system.
In 1993, a faculty committee consisting of representatives from all departments was formed by the dean to develop an "innovative curriculum" for the college. In carrying out the task, the committee considered and used as reference several models from other institutions, including Drexel University's "E4 Educational Program3" and the "Integrated, First Year Curriculum4" at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The new engineering curriculum developed at the University of Miami had the following objectives:
This curriculum has been approved by the faculty and steps have been taken for its broad implementation. New courses have been developed and existing courses are being revised in line with the objectives of the curriculum.
THE PILOT PROGRAM
To test and refine the concept, this new curriculum was started as a pilot program with a sample group of students in the fall semester of 19955. Having a small number of students involved would enable concentrated effort for a good start. The experience and knowledge gained from the pilot program would be used to refine the program when fully implemented. This pilot program was continued on in the fall of 1996.
Curriculum
Four courses, namely, Introduction to Engineering, Engineering Mathematics, Engineering Physics and English/Technical Writing, have been jointly developed and taught by an interdisciplinary team of faculty. These courses are integrated to support and supplement each other giving students a holistic picture of these courses rather than a piecemeal experience. All these courses run for two semesters and are required for all entering Freshmen in this program. This paper will concentrate on the Introduction to Engineering I & II.
Introduction to Engineering I & II are both three credit courses. The courses are to be taken one after the other. The courses are designed to provide direct contact between the engineering students and the engineering faculty. The first course in the sequence provides the student with basic tools that will be used in the second course.
Introduction to Engineering I
Most freshman courses in engineering at the University of Miami involved graphics or programming. These are required tools for engineers, but these did not provide the students' hands on engineering experience. In the past five years, most majors offered a zero or one credit orientation course, which introduced the students to the various aspects of their major. The introduction to Engineering I was designed to incorporate the best of the above two kinds of courses. Introduction to Engineering I has five basic components. They are 1) Orientation and Introduction to Computers, 2) Engineering Problem Solving using Spread Sheets, 3) Visual Communications, 4)Programming and 5) Design Experience. Components 3,4 and 5 occupy 12 weeks of the 14 week semester. The design experience is spread throughout the semester. They are described briefly below.
Orientation and Introduction to Computers
During the first week the students are introduced to the University environment. They are given information about the services available at the University and the College as well as the various disciplines available to them and what they do. The importance of good study habits, ability to manage time, ability to prioritize and discipline was emphasized. During the first class the students are also divided into teams and are given the first design project. The design projects are discussed in more detail below.
In the second week the students are introduced to computers. This includes a history of computing, introduction to PC environment, UNIX environment and using e-mail. They are also introduced to the Internet and have to build a home page for themselves.
Engineering Problem Solving Using Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets provide an easy tool for introducing concepts of problem solving to freshman. They have also become more versatile and powerful over the years so that many engineering problems can be solved using them.
In this module, the students are first introduced to spreadsheets and how to do the basic operations in them. They are also introduced to systematic approach to problem solving they should follow. Students also learn how graphs are used in engineering and scientific data presentation. They learn about basic statistics, numerical integration and differentiation. At this point they are introduced to the concept of truncation and roundoff errors. Students learn about curve fitting to paired data. Students were also introduced to the concepts of measurements, errors and how statistical analysis is used. The students were asked to measure hundreds of resistors of the same kind using a digital multi-meter. These data were analyzed using a spread sheet program.
Visual Communications
This module introduces the students to the importance of sketching, pictorial drawing and orthographic projection to engineers. Students also learn to use AutoCAD for doing their drawing. Other than Orthographic projection, the students learn dimensioning and tolerancing and their importance. They also learn about auxiliary views and sectional views and why they are needed.
Programming
This module introduces the students to software design and programming in C. The students are introduced to Von Neuman and parallel computer architecture, the number systems, data types and variables, assignments, branching, iteration, recursion, functions, modularization and input/outputs. The students are also introduced to analysis and design of software.
Design Projects.
In the Introduction to Engineering I course, the students were exposed to three small hands-on/design projects. On the first day of classes the students were asked to design a bridge. As part of the project they also had to maintain an engineering laboratory notebook. This project was to give the students a flavor of engineering and it expected them to make use of their intuitive ability. The students are also given strict dead lines. This required them to use their time management skill. The students did this as a group project, which forced them to work as a team. The second project was a circuit building project. This introduced the basics of circuits and was just a fun project. Each student made an electric buzzer that they could take home with them. The last project was slightly bigger project. In the first year it was an individual project. But we decided to make it a team project this year. The basic idea here is to try to bring together all the things they have learned in the course. We have assigned projects like design and build a device that can throw a tennis ball at least 30 feet and a car powered by a spring from a mouse trap. The students had to maintain a laboratory notebook of their activities. Other than designing and building the project, the students had to write an engineering report with parts and assembly drawings done using AutoCAD. They also had to do some calculations using spread sheets, Maple or a program using C language. On the day of the project presentation, the students have to make a presentation to the class. They have to use presentation programs to do their slides. These design projects received the most positive response from students. They were very enthusiastic about the hands-on work and all felt the experience was very stimulating.
INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING II
During the second semester, students apply the concepts and tools learned in the first part of the course for more challenging engineering design projects. Concurrently, students were introduced to various disciplines by working in selected laboratories and machine shop areas. This course consists of three elements, namely, 1) Engineering Design Process and Problem Solving techniques, 2) Shop Practice and Laboratory Experience, and 3) Group Design Project. They are described briefly below.
Engineering Design Process and Problem Solving Techniques
Problem Solving is the foundation of all engineering activities. This part of the course is designed to help students develop problem-solving skills and to understand the general process in engineering design. Students are introduced to the design heuristic of problem definition, generating solution, decide on a course of action and implement the solution. They also learn on the importance of evaluation and how it is an inherent part of the process. These subjects were illustrated using case studies. Topics such as Product Safety and Liability, Professional Ethics and Environmental Considerations were also covered.
Shop Practice and Laboratory Experience
In this part of the course, students spend three sessions in the Machine Shop. The first session gives an orientation to basic machines and tools, shop practices and safety guidelines. In the second and third sessions, students practice the operation of tools by manufacturing simple products. Students also visit laboratories in various departments to get exposure to different disciplines and to various measuring instruments.
Group Design Project
In this part of the course, the students engage in more extensive design projects. The groups have been divided by their disciplines and they work on a project in their field. For example the computer engineers might work on a software project, etc. Faculty members from various disciplines would serve as resource persons to provide consultation and guidance.
Discussion
One aspect of the course was to introduce students to the concept of Team Work. This was one area that received most resistance from the students. Participants were pre-assigned to groups of four prior to arriving on campus. The assignment was based on the idea of mixing; each group should consist of students from different majors and academic preparation. It was thought that less qualified students, working with stronger students, would be helpful and the better students would also be benefited by helping others. Also consideration was given to having more than one woman student in a team to avoid the woman student being dominated. In the first year, here were problems with commuter students having difficulties in meeting with residential students after class. We took that into consideration when assigning teams during this years. Even though we let students rearrange their groups during the second semester, it has to be monitored very carefully to make sure that groups formed by default are functional.
Students in these classes also took other classes together. This helped the freshmen to get to know each other much quickly than would happen otherwise. This helped in the students seeking each other's help in learning. The students basically formed a learning community. Also in the Introduction to Engineering I, we have students working in groups of two on the computer. This seems to work better than having one person on a computer.
Based on the past two years of experience, we are in the process of re-evaluating the above courses. Irrespective of that, the Introduction to Engineering course has been an exciting one. Even though there were some minor problems, such as grouping and scheduling in the beginning, the hands-on experience, early exposure to engineering, and team work definitely had a positive impact on the students. Students were much more enthusiastic about engineering and, by the end of the semester, had a better idea of their objective of study.
REFERENCES
1. Peterson, Carl, "Why Integrate Design?," ASEE Prism, pp. 26-29, May 1993.
2. Meade, Jeff, "Change in the Wind," ASEE Prism, pp. 20-24, May 1993.
3. Quinn, R. G., "Drexel's E4 Program: A Different Professional Experience for Engineering Students and Faculty," Journal of Engineering Education, Volume 82, No.4, pp. 196-202, October 1993.
4. Froyd, J. E., Rogers, G. J., and Winkel, B. J., "An Integrated, First-Year Curriculum in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics," Presented at the ASME National Heat Transfer Conference, Atlanta, GA, 1993.
5. Temares, M. L., Narasimhan, R. and Lee, S.S., "IMPaCT- A Pilot Program, Creating an Integrated Mathematics, Physics and Communication Track in Engineering Curriculum," in ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, Washington, 1996.