Bridging mathematics to science and engineering programs

Author

Goulet, John A.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Math. Sci., Worcester Polytech. Inst., MA, USA

Volume

2

fYear

2002

fDate

2002

Abstract

The WPI approach to engineering education has as its outcomes team projects which work on problems of contemporary significance in both engineering and society. This approach has been highly successful since its inception in the 1970s. In terms of curriculum, the implementation of this approach has been done in a top-down manner. This paper is concerned with how a mathematics course-linear algebra-taken at the freshmen level might be modified to be consistent with the WPI educational philosophy while still maintaining traditional mathematical goals. After several years of doing this, it seems possible to achieve these goals. Final exam data is provided to substantiate these claims.

Keywords

educational courses; engineering education; linear algebra; teaching; WPI educational philosophy; curriculum; engineering education programs; freshmen course; linear algebra; mathematical goals; mathematics course; science education programs; team projects; Calculus; Differential equations; Educational institutions; Engineering education; Joining processes; Linear algebra; Maintenance engineering; Mathematics; Matrices; Vectors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Frontiers in Education, 2002. FIE 2002. 32nd Annual

ISSN

0190-5848

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7444-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/FIE.2002.1158245

Filename

1158245