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Session 3253

A Multidisciplinary Course Sequence Stressing Team Skills, Conceptual Design, Creative Problem Solving, Professional Practice, and Computing Skills for Students Entering The William States Lee College of Engineering

by William Shelnutt, Mike Allen, Vivek Badami, Kim Buch, Art Edwards, Curtis Ensley, Johnny Graham, David Schmidt, Silvia Middleton, Howard Phillips, and Patricia Tolley of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte

and Monika Lumsdaine of Michigan Technological University

ABSTRACT

At UNC Charlotte, a faculty team is offering a new sequence of two courses, ENGR 1201 and 1202, Introduction to Engineering Practice and Principles I and II, for all students entering The William States Lee College of Engineering. Our long-range goals for this course sequence include (a) using the course as a foundation for lifelong learning of computer, teamwork, creative thinking, professional, and personal development skills and attitudes, (b) widespread faculty involvement in the course sequence over time, leading to incorporation of demanding team and creative thinking skills in disciplinary courses, (c ) an appreciation by students and faculty of the power of diversity in team and individual thinking style preferences, and (d) through feedback and continuous improvement, evolution of the course sequence to meet the changing needs of all stakeholders, while maintaining the integrity of the foundational purpose.

ENGR 1201 is an introductory two-semester hour course in which students are assigned to multidisciplinary teams to work on a semester-long conceptual design project while simultaneously receiving instruction and assignments in basic computing skills, personal development, team skills and tools, project planning, creative problem solving, introduction to disciplines, professional practice, and technical presentations. With few exceptions these topics are related to the semester design project, and exercises are designed to complement the project’s progress. The course culminates in team presentations which are evaluated and scored by faculty from participating departments. Extensive evaluation of the course by students and faculty have led to improvements such as decreasing the number of assignments, coordinating assignments among participating faculty, and linking the assignments more closely to the semester project.

ENGR 1202 continues the emphasis on team skills and incorporates a discipline-specific laboratory component. Students choose laboratory sections corresponding to their majors and are assigned to teams which carry over to the common classroom sessions. In the disciplinary labs students are given instruction in the application of an introductory topic (such as engineering graphics or a computer language) and are assigned an open-ended semester-long conceptual design project utilizing the tools of that topic. The classroom portion of ENGR 1202 reinforces the team skills begun in ENGR 1201 and adds specific instruction and exercises in creative problem solving tools and techniques applicable to teams. Again, classroom instruction and

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Badami, V., & Allen, M., & Graham, J., & Phillips, H., & Schmidt, D., & Ensley, C., & Edwards, A., & Middleton, S. G., & Buch, K. A., & Shelnutt, J. W., & Tolley, P. (1997, June), A Multidisciplinary Course Sequence Stressing Team Skills, Conceptual Design, Creative Problem Solving, Professional Practice, And Computing Skills For Students Entering The William States Lee College Of Engineering Paper presented at 1997 Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 10.18260/1-2--6694