A cohort of students is to be instructed by the principal investigator in four successive chemical engineering courses, beginning with the introductory sophomore course. The courses incorporate a number of teaching methods that have been shown by educational research to promote effective learning, including inductive/global presentation, open-ended problems, problem creation exercises, cooperative (team-based) learning, and assessment and remediation of motivation and study skill deficiencies. Two groups are studied: an experimental group consisting of students who experience the proposed approach for three or more semesters, and a comparison group of students who progress through the regular curriculum. The products of the research include a detailed profile of entering engineering students--distribution by sex and race, high school and freshman year records, reasons for selecting engineering, expectations of success, and levels of confidence and anxiety. The objective of the research is to demonstrate that the systematic and repeated use of the methods listed above can have significant beneficial effects on academic performance, retention, problem solving ability, and attitude toward engineering as a curriculum and career choice. The effects are expected to be particularly pronounced for minority students and other students considered to be at-risk academically.
