Multidisciplinary Freshman Engineering

Abstract - A transformative first-year engineering experience has been created with the goal to immerse students in the experience of what it means to be an engineer. Students start the process of becoming an engineer, not just studying engineering. They focus on multidisciplinary engineering system investigations and discovery learning. The interaction of technology, business, human values, and complexity to achieve innovation is directly experienced by students through the application of the engineering system design process to real-world problems. The students embrace a new attitude towards learning and knowledge. They are expected to come prepared for class, ready to learn and dynamically interact. Faculties have a new attitude towards teaching, mentoring students, and addressing different learning styles: kinesthetic, aural, visual, and written. Active, integrative, inquiry- guided teaching is becoming the norm. Changing attitude and behavior is difficult for all involved, but it is happening.