The Freshman Engineering Experience

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A comprehensive integrated freshman educational experience suitable for both engineering and potential engineering students is being developed, which provides a "hands-on" introduction to engineering methodologies and problem solving. The curricular material for this two course sequence emphasizes the integration of mathematics, physics, and chemistry into introductory engineering sciences through the use of carefully constructed open-ended problems. Development of written communication skills and teamwork in problem solving and learning are also emphasized. The project involves faculty from the University of Pittsburgh main campus, its branch campuses at Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown, and Titusville and the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC). An important part of this project is the evaluation of curricular effectiveness and assessment of the impact of the new courses on student attitudes toward engineering and student performance in course knowledge content compared with more traditional courses. The lag in introduction of new course material at the branch campuses and CACC provides an opportunity to evaluate the new curriculum materials against more traditional approaches. New hands-on, project-oriented curricular material, complete with instructor's manuals, will be available for other colleges and universities to adopt for their courses.