The National Science Foundation has supported creation of eight engineering education coalitions: ECSEL, Synthesis, Gateway, SUCCEED, Foundation, Greenfield, Academy, and SCCME. One common area of work across the coalitions has been restructuring first‐year engineering curricula. Within some of the coalitions, schools have designed and implemented integrated first‐year curricula. The purpose of this paper is fourfold: 1) to review the different pilot projects that have been developed; 2) to abstract some design alternatives that can be explored by schools interested in developing an integrated first‐year curriculum; 3) to indicate some logistical challenges; and 4) to present brief descriptions of various curricula along with highlights of the assessment results that have been obtained.
The Foundation Coalition was funded in 1993 as the fifth coalition in the National Science Foundation's Engineering Education Coalitions Program. The member institutions—Arizona State University, Maricopa Community College District, Rose‐Hulman Institute of Technology, Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University ‐ Kingsville, Texas Woman's University, and the University of Alabama—have developed improved curricula and learning environment models that are based on four primary thrusts: integration of subject matter within the curriculum, cooperative and active learning, technology‐enabled learning, and continuous improvement through assessment and evaluation. This paper discusses the first five years of Coalition activities and major accomplishments to date.
The FC has as its vision a new culture of engineering education: students and faculty working in partnership to create an enduring foundation for student development and life-long learning. The member institutions -Arizona State University (ASU), Maricopa Community College District (MCCD), Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHlT), Texas A&M University (TAMU), Texas A&M University -Kingsville (TAh'lUK), Texas Woman's University (Tw[T), and the University of Alabama (UA)are developing improved curricula andlearning environment models that are based on four primary thrusts: integration of subject matter within the curriculum, improvement of the human interfaces that affect educational environments, technology-enabled learning, and continuous improvement through assessment and evaluation. The Foundation Coalition partners draw on their diverse strengths and mutual support to construct improved curricula and learning environments;to attract and retain a more demographically diverse student body; and to graduate a new generation of engineers who can more effectively solve the increasingly complex, rapidly changing societal problems that demand 0 Increased appreciation and motivation for lifelong learning 0 Increased ability to participate in effective teams 0 Effective oral, written, graphical, and visual communication skills; 0 Improved ability to appropriately apply the fundamentals of mathematics and the sciences 0 Increased capability to integrate knowledge from different disciplines to define problems, develop and evaluate alternative solutions, and specify appropriate solutions 0 Increased flexibility and competence in using modern technology effectively for analysis, design, and communication As part of the FC strategic planning process, seven measurable objectives have been established to guide our activities over the remaining years of the grant period (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998). Foundation Coalition Objectives 1.Create viable lower-division curricula and earning environments based on the four primary thrusts if the Coalition at each partner institution. 2.Initiate structural changes in upper-division :ngineering curricula that are based on the four primary ,hrusts of the Coalition in at least one discipline at each partner engineering college. 3.Share innovations developed within the Foundation Coalition, including curricula, learning :nvironments, and processes for change. 1.Build appropriate bridges between established curriculum requirements and incoming students' skills, knowledge, and motivation in order to increase student success and the accessibility of engineering education. 5.Implement academic and cultural changes thar will increase the recruitment and graduation of student5 from under-represented groups at each institution. . processes and procedures.Develop and implement Coalition-wide evaluatior 7. plan for each campus in the Coalition.Develop and put in place an institutionalizatior 0-7803-3348-9 0 EEE 1132
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