Implementation of a New Undergraduate Curriculum in Materials Science and Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University

该项目支持卡内基梅隆大学(CMU)材料科学与工程(MSE)新本科课程的规划。根据最近的几份报告，呼吁在高等教育中重新强调研究性学习，使学生能够从研究人员的角度体验科学和工程，本科生MSE课程将利用一个共同的主题能源与环境，将多个层次的研究和教育整合到核心课程中，并为高级课程建立几个“材料轨道”。建议的轨道是：陶瓷材料、磁性材料、金属材料、聚合物材料、生物材料和半导体材料。能源主题已被确定为CMU的主要战略研究兴趣之一，对几乎所有工程学科都具有核心重要性。拟议中的项目建立在CMU研究与教育整合的强大历史基础上，并将从大一开始为来自所有工程领域的本科生创造参与材料研究的机会。通过与Eberly卓越教学中心的大力合作，拟议的计划将使用合理的教学和认知原则来制定、实施和评估拟议的课程改革。这项计划的成果之一将是一份材料实验室教学参考，一本供教职员工和教学助理使用的手册，将以印刷和在线形式分发。这本手册也可以被其他工程学科的教员使用，并将由MSE教员在认知科学专家的密切指导下创建。新课程的实施将使认知心理学家能够从新设计的课程和实验室实验中获得关于学生学习的数据。拟议的课程还将把计算方法与材料课程结合起来，以能源主题为共同主线。不同长度和时间尺度的计算方法将相互耦合，以反映工业中使用的材料加工和制造的巨大不同尺度。本科生将获得重要的计算技能，这将使他们在重新设计的大四顶峰课程以及他们的工程职业生涯中受益。拟议的课程将显著影响几个社会和工业需求。通过与查塔姆学院(Chatham College)的合作，将创建一条新的“教学轨道”，使材料工程本科生能够获得宾夕法尼亚州的教学证书。查塔姆学院是一所位于CMU校园附近的女子学院。当这些学生毕业并开始教学时，他们将能够转移他们的一些材料工程知识，并将其适应高中观众。材料实验教学参考将包括与查塔姆学院化学学院合作开发的实验。来自查塔姆的学生将能够参加CMU的夏季实验室课程，这些实验室实验的仪器将位于两所学校。

This project supports planning for a new undergraduate curriculum in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Based on several recent reports that call for renewing the emphasis on inquiry- and research-based learning in higher education that enables students to experience science and engineering from the perspective of a researcher, undergraduate MSE curriculum will integrate research and education at multiple levels using a common theme of Energy and the Environment into the core curriculum, and establish several "Materials Tracks" for the upper level courses. The proposed tracks are: Ceramic Materials, Magnetic Materials, Metallic Materials, Polymeric Materials, Biomaterials, and Semiconductor Materials. The energy theme has been identified as one of the main strategic research interests at CMU, and is of central importance to nearly all engineering disciplines. The proposed program builds on the strong history of the integration of research and education at CMU, and will create opportunities for undergraduates from all engineering fields to participate in materials research, starting in the Freshmen year. Through a strong collaboration with the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, the proposed program will use sound pedagogical and cognitive principles to develop, implement, and evaluate the proposed curriculum changes. One of the outcomes of this program will be a materials laboratory teaching reference, a manual for faculty and teaching assistants, which will be disseminated in print and on-line. This manual can also be used by faculty of other engineering disciplines, and will be created by the MSE faculty, closely guided by experts in cognitive science. The implementation of the new curriculum will enable cognitive psychologists to acquire data about student learning in newly designed courses and lab experiments.The proposed program will also integrate computational methods with materials courses, using the energy theme as a common thread. Computational methods at various length and time scales will be coupled to one another, to reflect the widely different scales at which materials processing and manufacturing are used in industry. The undergraduate students will acquire important computational skills, which will benefit them in their redesigned senior year capstone course, as well as in their engineering careers.The proposed program will significantly impact several societal and industrial needs. Through a collaboration with Chatham College, a women-only college near the CMU campus, a new "Teaching Track" will be created, which will enable materials engineering undergraduates to obtain a Pennsylvania teaching certificate. When these students graduate and commence teaching, they will be able to transfer some of their knowledge of materials engineering and adapt it to a high school audience. The materials laboratory teaching reference will include lab experiments developed in collaboration with chemistry faculty of Chatham College. Students from Chatham will be able to take a Summer lab course at CMU, and instrumentation for these lab experiments will be located at both schools.