An integrated first-year engineering curricula

The Foundation Coalition (FC) Program at Texas A&M University (USA) includes chemistry, English, engineering, math and physics taught in an integrated two semester sequence using technology and delivered in an active-collaborative environment to students working in teams of three and four. A unique feature of the courses taught at A&M is the close coordination of subject matter maintained by the first-year faculty teaching team. Topics covered in each discipline are discussed in weekly meetings and efforts are made to teach and reinforce concepts across subject lines. The paper addresses some of the challenges encountered in an integrated program (such as, students with previous college credit in one or more area, and students with differing levels of academic preparation). The authors believe that their thrusts of integration, teaming, active learning and technology will produce engineers who can solve increasingly complex problems more effectively.