The Two Towers: Mathematics modeling as companion to design in first-year engineering

Mathematics and engineering have problem-solving frameworks that are exceedingly similar. This paper posits that instructors should take advantage of these similarities and give students open-ended modeling exercises within their mathematics courses that will also require using the problem-solving framework from their design course to successfully navigate the modelling aspect of the problem. This paper presents the two frameworks, showing that they are effectively identical, and then goes on to show what kind of a problem would be useful for showing students that ‘mathematical thinking’ and ‘design thinking’ are intricately connected. Finally, some suggestions for how to come up with these exercises are given.