Engineering explorations: introducing first-year students to engineering

In the fall of 2000, Michigan Tech (USA) implemented a common first year program for engineering students of all disciplines. The first year program at Michigan Tech has "borrowed" many ideas from similar programs around the country and the cornerstone of the program itself is two introductory engineering courses. One of the features of our program is that all students are required to participate in at least five engineering explorations in at least three different disciplines as part of their outside homework for one of the engineering classes. The engineering explorations are meant to be hands-on activities designed to show first year students exactly what engineers "do" in real life. Each department in the College of Engineering was required to develop at least one exploration and to offer a given number of sessions throughout the semester. As can be expected, some departments have done a better job than others in developing and delivering these explorations. As part of their assessment of our first year program, the authors surveyed students regarding their reaction to these various explorations and they also surveyed the faculty who have been involved in their design and delivery. This paper describes the engineering explorations they have developed as well as preliminary assessment results from students and faculty who participated in them