A Project-Based Approach To First-Year Engineering Curriculum Development

First-year engineering curricula are vitally important in improving the quantity and quality of engineering graduates. Many innovative approaches to first-year engineering curriculum development have been created and implemented over the past twenty years. Often, innovative approaches incorporate one or more engineering projects as learning experiences for first-year students. Further, problem-based and project-based pedagogical theories have offered the framework for many innovative learning experiences for engineering students in all four years of engineering curricula. As Texas A&M University improves its first-year engineering curricula, faculty members are re-examining the nature of the project-based learning experiences both to improve the learning experiences and to develop specifications for future project-based learning experiences. This paper presents the rationale behind the five specifications and offers experiences in developing and implementing the design projects for the prototype first-year engineering curricula. The paper also describes the assessment and evaluation plan as well as assessment data that has been analyzed to date