Closing the gap between teaching and learning: formative evaluation in a freshman design course

The primary goal of the NSF-funded Engineering Coalition of Schools for Excellence and Educational Leadership (ECSEL) is to integrate design throughout the engineering curriculum. Freshman courses are a key component of the ECSEL effort, because the freshman year is the time when a student forms his or her strongest perceptions of the college environment and disciplines. The freshman design sequence at City College consists of two semester-long courses carrying a total of three credit hours. How successful are these courses in involving students in engineering design and motivating them to stay in engineering? A major thrust of the ECSEL Freshman effort will be to develop strategies and techniques for evaluation. This paper reports on some very preliminary evaluation efforts which have been begun at City College. It describes the first attempts to study cognitive and affective issues and also to examine the goals of the program.