Work in progress-a four year follow-up: integration of math, physics and engineering, a pilot study for success

摘要

The inherent integration between mathematics, physics, and engineering is obvious to experienced engineers and faculty, however, many incoming students find it hard to see the connections. During the 1999-2000 academic year, a pilot study was conducted to see the effects of cohort scheduling students into integrated sections of calculus, physics, and first year engineering courses. Calculus-ready student were chosen randomly and asked to participate in this study. Those declining our offer were used as our control group. The control and the test groups had similar compositions of majors, SAT/ACT scores, and high school backgrounds. Initial results of this study show that students in the test group scored significantly higher on common exams. One year follow-up analysis shows that these students continue to have overall higher grade point averages, and self-report a high level of academic confidence. This work in progress highlights the integration process, including the active collaborative teaching/learning styles used, and shows the progress of the cohort students four years after the initial study. It builds heavily on prior work of these authors.