William States Lee College of Engineering First-Year Core Redesign
The Teaching and Learning Innovation team is partnering with the W.S. Lee College of Engineering (LCOE) in a course redesign initiative for their four freshman engineering courses (ENGR-1300, ENGR-1301, ENGR-1302, ENGR-1303).
In February of 2024, the College of Engineering Faculty Organization voted to implement a common first year curriculum for all College of Engineering students. The goals for this common curriculum are to:
- Establish foundational knowledge and skills
- Simplify the transition of changing majors within the first year
- Create inclusive pathways to support students with lower math placement to access all majors
- Allow students to explore different majors before committing
- Use innovative pedagogies and activities
The redesign process included developing design teams for each course and participating in a two day workshop. The workshop featured a presentation by The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) where they talked about the entrepreneurial mindset and they shared some of their resources. Teaching and Learning Innovation team also facilitated activities where they discussed various topics to support the development of these courses such as design thinking, student personas, the students learning journey, curriculum mapping, among others. Each design team completed a “Lookbook” that outlined the following:
- Course Value Propositions
- Course Outcomes and Evidences
- Content, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Active Learning and Assessments
- Feedback, Communication, and Support
- Technology and Data
In addition to curriculum support, the Center for Teaching and Learning is also assisting with video production and the Canvas course design. The new design for these courses are schedule to launch for the 2025-2026 school year.
Faculty Champions played a pivotal role in creating a course map and collaborating on the redesign of first-year common engineering courses