The Internet Team taught a dozen students how to program on the web and then completely overhauled the local Foundation Coalition web page. The Academic Excellence Team organized tutoring for lower division students. Improved communication provided a more dynamic environment for the students and for the faculty. Engineering design projects injected a professional atmosphere into the curriculum. The primary goal of the engineering courses was to develop practical problem solving skills.
Incoming freshmen struggle with word problems.
Trained in high school that problem solving is plugging numbers into formulas, the students need to learn the art of formulating a solution strategy. One of the most popular parts of the experimental freshman year for the students was the design projects in the engineering courses. Last year's favorite project was designing an overhead power distribution system for a new subdivision. The students were asked to read the project description before the class in which the project was formally introduced. After taking a short quiz, the students watched an engineer from Alabama Power demonstrate the basics of the design procedure.