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Integrated Freshman/Sophomore Curriculum Integrated Freshman/Sophomore Integrated Curriculum A new integrated engineering curriculum has been developed and implemented at Louisiana Tech. The freshman program focuses on integration of topics between engineering, math, chemistry, and physics. The sophomore curriculum was designed to successfully mesh with the integrated freshman curriculum and provides breadth of knowledge in a number of engineering subjects. Considerable effort has been made to integrate fundamental engineering topics into the sophomore year while allowing for the progressive introduction of program specific courses. Integration of topics between these courses is a dynamic process. The faculty teaching these courses have spent may hours reviewing course syllabi and identifying appropriate points in the course where integration of topics will be effective. They also meet regularly to discuss progress and to propose changes in the implementation of previously developed plans. This collaboration allows for continuous improvement of all classes. The integrated curriculum has been very successful. Students are performing at a much higher level than they did in the traditional program. We attribute the improvement in student success primarily to three factors: - Better integration of courses - Students actually understand why they are covering certain topics in math, chemistry, and physics and they can make connections between these topics and engineering. Structure of the Four-Year Engineering Curriculum Freshman - to build students' knowledge of basic English, mathematics and science with an exciting and progressive introduction to engineering spread throughout the entire freshman year Sophomore - to continue to strengthen students' knowledge of mathematics, while providing breadth of knowledge in a number of key engineering subjects Junior - to focus on the engineering fundamentals required for a specific engineering discipline Senior - to use the tools developed in the first three years to solve specialized engineering problems The Freshman Engineering Curriculum The integrated freshman curriculum is shown in Table 1. The new curriculum integrates engineering, math, chemistry, and physics and incorporates an engineering design project during the freshman year. All classes rely heavily on cooperative learning techniques. Faculty have moved from the traditional "chalk and talk", teacher-centered approach to a learner-centered approach. Table 1. Integrated Freshman Engineering Curriculum
The engineering component of the new curriculum includes extensive training in team skills as well as creative problem solving skills and engineering design. The traditional chemistry, physics, and mathematics courses are also modified where appropriate to relate topics in one course to another. The engineering course spans the first year and emphasizes problem-solving strategies by demonstrating application of these math and science principles, sometimes with laboratories, sometimes with in-class assignments. This course also includes information on engineering disciplines, communication skills (making presentations and writing technical reports), drawing and visualization, and computer tools for engineers (Excel, MathCAD, PowerPoint, CAD). Faculty teaching all these courses function as a team themselves and meet regularly to assure that courses are being effectively integrated. The Sophomore Engineering CurriculumThe objective of the integrated sophomore curriculum is to strengthen student's knowledge of mathematics, while providing a broad base of engineering fundamentals. The integrated courses in the sophomore curriculum are shown in Table 2. Humanities/social science courses and program-specific courses are taken in addition to these for a total load of 11 to 12 hours per quarter. The fundamental engineering topics included in the sophomore curriculum are: - engineering mechanics (statics and strength of materials) Table 2. Integrated Sophomore Engineering Curriculum
Each of the three-semester hour engineering courses included in the sophomore curriculum has a similar structure as outlined in Table 3. Table 3. Structure of New Engineering Courses
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