Keeping Students Engaged: An Overview Of Three Introductory Courses In Aerospace Engineering

The traditional approach of teaching major-specific courses beginning in the first or second semester sophomore year has many drawbacks that could lead to stifling student's enthusiasm and interest in his/her field of study and very often to the loss of many talented students to other programs. To alleviate this problem and to keep students engaged and interested in their chosen discipline, the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Mississippi State University began a major overhaul of its undergraduate curriculum in fall 1994 which, among many changes, led to the creation of three freshman/sophomore "Intro-to-ASE" courses. While providing an overview of the curriculum and activities conducted in each course, this paper discusses students' and instructor's assessments of effectiveness of these courses and highlights apparent successes and remaining challenges.