Stimulating introductory engineering courses with Java

The traditional combination of text, lectures and laboratories that constitutes the learning environment for most introductory engineering courses has inherent restrictions that limit student success. Texts are static, attempts to allow students to reproduce a dynamic lecture experience outside of class (e.g., videotape) are ineffective and time consuming; even laboratories allow students to explore the impact on behavior of only a few sets of inputs. Dynamic supplemental materials such as simulations and animations allow the student to observe and evaluate the behavior of systems under different conditions. This helps students to truly understand concepts and develop a sound basis for more advanced studies. The capabilities of current technologies, such as Java and the World Wide Web, make it attractive to develop such materials. This paper discusses the authors´ experiences to date in creating Java-based supplemental courseware for lower division engineering courses, describes the courses and supplemental project involved, and suggests some approaches to structuring a collection of such materials.