An introductory engineering class has recently undergone a major overhaul of both the course curriculum and organization to cope with rising class sizes and provide a more comprehensive look at the different specializations within engineering.
The largest change to the course, ENGN 0030: "Introduction To Engineering," is its division into five different sections. While in the past the class had one large lecture and smaller problem solving sections, the class is now split into five smaller, combined problem-solving and lecture sections and one "grand lecture" that all students will attend Fridays, said Karen Haberstroh '95, assistant professor of research in engineering and lead instructor for the class this semester. The grand lecture will feature guest speakers from different engineering disciplines covering a variety of topics, including research currently going on at Brown. Another advantage of the grand lecture is to expose students to fellow classmates in different sections in order to build a sense of community within the engineering department, Haberstroh added.
Part of the reason for the change is "to make sure by the end of the first semester the students have a good feel not just for the specific content that we're covering in class, the technical content, but more broadly the different choices they can make as engineers," Haberstroh said.
"I think that (the engineering department) is branching out by adding things," said Ryan McKeown '14, a current teaching assistant for the class who helped implement the changes over the summer. "Like with the sculptural design project, students can have moving parts that can make your sculpture move, or light up, or do something that incorporates more computer and electrical engineering."
One reason for the change is rising enrollment. "When I went to Brown, the class was more in the order of 150 (students), and in the past five years I would say it's ramped up pretty significantly. ... As of this morning, the number of students enrolled on Banner was around 217," Haberstroh said. She added that the course was split in order to maintain a good level of interaction with the students and provide an opportunity to solve problems in class.
Several other changes to the course include the reintroduction of an advanced section for students with a physics background, the switch to MATLAB as the primary software package instead of Maple - making the transition to ENGN 0040: "Dynamics and Vibrations," which uses MATLAB, easier - and the introduction of a new sculptural design project with much looser constraints than projects from previous years, McKeown said. The student group with the best project will be allowed to set up its design as an installation in the Barus and Holley lobby.
The changes were decided in many faculty meetings over the past year with input from both faculty and students, said Lawrence Larson, dean of the School of Engineering. "We conducted very elaborate student evaluations last fall, and we took that very much into account."
A main reason for the changes to the course is to make it a more accessible introduction to engineering. "Brown students are incredibly bright and incredibly ambitious, and I'd like all of them to have some exposure to engineering," Larson said.
