New directions in freshman Engineering Design at the University of Maryland

The University of Maryland has a well established, project-based ldquoIntroduction to Engineering Designrdquo (ENES 100) course which is taken by approximately 750 freshman engineering students each year. This paper explores the formation of this course through the NSF sponsored ECSEL program, with an emphasis placed on the evolution of this course over the past two decades. While the ECSEL program revolutionized how the introductory course was taught, the long-term implementation suffered from several shortcomings related to the challenges of teaching to such a large student cohort. In 2006, ENES 100 became the first ldquoKeystone Courserdquo offered by the newly formed Keystone program. Since its inception, the Keystone program has revitalized ENES 100 by making three major changes. The first change was to switch the focus of the course from simple design-build construction projects to the design-build of complex systems. The second change emphasized the product development theme of the course. The final change was to unify the course among each of the 20 sections taught each year. Initial results indicate that students are responding favorably to the changes made by the Keystone program.