Integrating The First Two Years Of Engineering Education

The University of Florida (UF) is conducting an integr ated engineering education experiment (covering the first two years of engineering education) for the Southeastern University and College Coalition for Engineering EDucation (SUCCEED), one of the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Education Coalitions. The guiding purpose of this effort is to provide students the same benefits that have been achieved through total program integration while avoiding some major drawbacks of such schemes, such as significant changes in program administration. We propose a model different from the total integration model, which has domin ated curriculum reform research. In our model, course and department frameworks remain in tact. Instead, we are changing the way faculty teach and the way students' time is structured to increase learning efficiency. We have 100 students enrolled in the program and plan to work with them for two years. Special s ections of Calc I and Chemistry I were taught in the Fall semester of 1995. S ections of Calculus II, Chemistry II and Physics I are in progress during Spring 1996. These special sections are reducing the dependence on lecture and relying more on active and group learning models. More “studio” classes are being used to improve learning.