DEVELOPMENT OF “INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING” COURSES FOR FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS: A FOCUS ON STUDENT ATTITUDES

Many students entering an engineering program have a strong appreciation of the importance of math- and science-based skills for their future career as an engineer, but often have little grasp of what it means to be entering a professional college.  For this reason, many engineering programs in Canada include some form of an “Introduction to the Engineering Profession” in their first-year program.  The University of Saskatchewan’s College of Engineering has been working toward the launch of a completely redesigned first year program.  This project has afforded the College an opportunity to apply a novel and transferable approach to shaping this “Introduction to the Engineering” experience.  The structure of the proposed new first year program has allowed for short and intensive “Introduction to Engineering” modules, which bookend each of the regular session terms.  This timing makes them an orientation for the program, allowing for timely deep dives into matters of importance to engineering students: study skills, time-management, teamwork, self-assessment, support services, student well-being, ethics, academic integrity, and health and safety.  The timing of the modules also allows for completion of term-long assignments and reflection on both personal and academic growth. This paper describes the process employed to develop the course learning outcomes, schedule of topics and activities, and syllabi.  The process focused on over-arching target attitudes, such as “I am on the path to becoming a professional”, and ensured constructive alignment between these attitudes and the learning outcomes, learning activities, and assessment.  The nature of the process made it easy to clarify what was essential to include in the courses, and to make a compelling case for the importance of the courses in the context of a myriad of foundational technical topics.