Incorporating Mathematics in a Freshman Engineering Course

摘要

New Freshman Engineering courses at West Virginia University integrated computers, math, anddesign while giving a more rigorous introduction to engineering. Pilot sections were started in the Fall 1994 semester.One day per week is devoted to math. Three days a week are project work. Projects are not chosen for mathematical content, but stress mathematics within each project.The Engineering instructor does not replace the mathematics faculty or tutors. Engineers act as experts on the uses of mathematics. Since we feel most successful engineering students study cooperatively we promote group study activity in mathematics.Each week, a math homework assignment derived from the published Math syllabus is made as part of Freshman Engineering. A typical assignment consists of about twelve problems forming a subset of sixty problems assigned in Math. We attempt to insure that all engineering students actually complete some homework, while the typical math instructor assigns, but does not collect homework.On "math day " students ask questions. When a student asks about a homework problem, the problem is worked out cooperatively between instructors and students. With three instructors present, students are frequently shown several approaches to a problem. Frequently, there is a group quiz over the homework material, intended to promote discussion and peer tutoring. Homework is collected at the end of class to lead students to work together on difficult problems.This integration has worked well, from a teacher perspective.Comparisons between the "Pilot Sections" and the previous course organization supplemented with "math tutorials " showed no difference in student performance on five measures of success.