Integrating Exposure to Nanotechnology through Project Work in a Large First-Year Engineering Course

We report the alignment between our National Science Foundation Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education grant goals and existing first-year engineering course goals, along with the process of developing, revising, and implementing two nanotechnology interventions to fulfill these goals. Specifically, we describe how nanotechnology was integrated into a first-year engineering course that does not have exposing students to nanotechnology as a course goal, but does afford opportunities for such through its existing goals and project assignment structures. We also report findings based on analysis of this large-scale implementation that suggest greater need for training and structure to support consistency in nanotechnology opportunities presented across various instructors’ sections of a single course.