Engaging Freshman Engineers Using the Paul-Elder Model of Critical Thinking

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. 
2. Introducing Engineering Disciplines in Introduction to Engineering
A primary goal of most Introduction to Engineering courses is to introduce students to the various 
engineering disciplines. To improve engagement, retention, and development of critical thinking, many 
engineering schools have looked at alternative methods to introduce the various engineering disciplines 
in Introduction to Engineering courses. Several schools have adopted project-based or laboratory-based 
approaches to incorporate active learning. For example, the University of Florida converted their 
lecture-based Introduction to Engineering course into a series of labs focusing on the various 
disciplines. They found that the active learning approach was preferable and saw significant increases in 
retention
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. Other schools have taken similar approaches by having students participate in both 
discipline-specific and multidisciplinary projects
7,8,9
. At North Carolina State University, student teams 
were asked to conduct research about a particular discipline and give short (5-10 minute) presentations 
to the rest of the class
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. Additionally, students were required to attend at least two informational 
seminars put on by the various departments.
Like Introduction to Engineering courses at many engineering schools, our course invites faculty 
representatives from each of the different departments to speak to the students about their discipline.
Departments have retained autonomy in developing their presentations, so there is no pre-determined 

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format. To improve engagement, it was suggested that the time be broken up into segments with 
“hands-on” activities and time for students to interact in small groups with some of the department’s 
students and faculty. Five of seven departments followed this recommendation, one presented using 
only a lecture format, and one conducted lab tours in place of a hands-on activity. In addition, this fall 
the presentations were spread throughout the 14 week semester, starting with week four and continuing 
roughly once a week for the next six weeks. This schedule appeared to work much better than in 
previous years and there were no ramifications with the fall advising schedule. Students who ended up 
needing another advising appointment due to changing majors were accommodated without incident.