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Session 3253

A FRESHMAN ENGINEERING EXPERIENCE THE FOUNDATION COALITION AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

by

Jim Morgan Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Texas A&M University

ABSTRACT

This paper represents an overview of the freshman year of the Foundation Coalition program at Texas A&M University. Future directions of this program, taught in groups of one hundred, are highlighted. The curriculum includes chemistry, English, engineering, math and physics taught in an integrated just in time fashion using technology and delivered in an active- collaborative environment to students working in teams of four. Through our thrusts of integration, teaming, active learning and technology we hope to produce engineers who can more effectively solve increasingly complex problems. This enhanced problem solving skill demands: • increased appreciation and motivation for life-long learning; • effective oral, written, graphical, and visual communication skills; • increased capability to integrate knowledge from different disciplines to define problems, develop and evaluate alternative solutions; and • increased flexibility and competence in using modern technology effectively for analysis, design, and communication. Information on learning styles and performance of students is presented and compared to that of the students in the traditional freshman engineering program at Texas A&M University.

THE COURSES

The freshman year of the Foundation Coalition program at Texas A&M University consists of 4 credit hours of chemistry, 4 credit hours of English, 5 hours credit of engineering, 8 credit hours of mathematics, and 6 credit hours of physics. These courses include a semester of chemistry (including lab), a two semester English class (including freshman rhetoric and part of technical writing), a two semester engineering course (including engineering graphics, and an introduction to engineering problem solving and computing), two semesters of calculus (although not all materials comes from the first two semesters of a traditional calculus class), and two semesters of physics (including mechanics and E&M). The courses are delivered to students as 12 semester hours in the fall semester plus 15 semester hours in the spring semester. The engineering component of the curriculum has as central goals to: provide the student with the necessary skills to perform effective problem solving; to help the student develop a logical

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Morgan, J. (1997, June), A Freshman Engineering Experience The Foundation Coalition At Texas A&M University Paper presented at 1997 Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 10.18260/1-2--6580