Work in progress — Engineering math with EARLY BIRD

Mathematics is the most important discipline for engineering students besides their own subject - and it is constantly required in engineering freshmen lectures. Sometimes, mathematical content is needed in engineering lectures before it has been taught in the mathematics classroom. Thus, the engineering teachers often have to do mathematical excurses that are ineffective and unsatisfying, both for the students and the teachers. A propaedeutic dedicated to mathematical studies only, cannot be implemented within the current study regulations. Moreover, it would contradict the engineers´ wish for a rapid identification with the “real” engineering subject to increase the students´ motivation. Therefore, we introduced EARLY BIRD to overcome this deficiency. In EARLY BIRD I freshmen can benefit of their time between high school graduation and their enrollment at the university to attend Calculus I and Linear Algebra classes. In EARLY BIRD II Calculus II classes are offered during the winter semester break.