Introducing Discipline-Based Computing in Undergraduate Engineering Education

This article investigates the effectiveness of a course employing a discipline-based computing approach. The research questions driving this study were: (1) Can experiences with discipline-based computing promote students’ acquisition and application of foundational computing concepts and procedures? (2) How do students perceive and experience the integration of discipline-based computing as relevant to their future career goals? (3) How do students perceive the structure of the class as useful and engaging for their learning? We used qualitative and quantitative research methods to approach the research questions. The population studied was 20 engineering undergraduates from Johns Hopkins University. Results of this study suggest that students performed proficiently in applying computing methods, procedures, and concepts to the solution of well-structured engineering problems. Results also suggest that student self-perceptions of their overall computing abilities and their abilities to specifically solve engineering problems shifted from low to high confidence. Students consistently found the course to be important and useful for their studies and their future careers. They also found the course to be of very high quality and identified the instructors and the teaching and feedback methods employed as very useful for their learning. Finally, students also described the course as very challenging compared with other courses in their own department and at the university in general.