An integrated first-year engineering curriculum at North Carolina State University

A pilot offering of an integrated freshman engineering curriculum took place at North Carolina State University in the 1994-95 academic year under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation SUCCEED Coalition. In each semester the students took a calculus course, a physics course, and a one-credit engineering course, taught by a multidisciplinary team of professors. The instruction involved just-in-time presentation of fundamental material in the context of engineering problems and systems, hands-on experimentation and computer-based data analysis within most class sessions engineering design projects in each semester, extensive cooperative (team-based) learning, both in and out of class, and training in a variety of problem-solving, study, and communication skills. The paper outlines the curriculum structure and instructional approach, sketches the outcomes for the first year (detailed assessment and evaluation results will appear elsewhere), discusses obstacles to implementation of such integrated curricula, and suggests necessary conditions for overcoming the obstacles.