This project supports a workshop aimed at the familiarization of teachers of introductory courses in materials science and engineering with a new approach developed over the past four years at the University of Pennsylvania. The goals are to stimulate these teachers to experiment with this approach and to give input into the text developed for the new course, which is approaching the stage of final revision. The course is aimed at first- or second-year undergraduates in any engineering discipline, including materials science, and at non-engineering students with advanced high-school-level preparation in physics, chemistry, and calculus. The innovation consists in placing all the topics covered in the now-traditional type of introductory course into a familiar context for students encountering the subject for the first time. This is done by using the bicycle and the Walkman as the paradigms for, in effect, two giant case studies. The use of these contexts enables the student to comprehend the subject in a unified way in a one-semester course and to be able to apply it to engineering situations. It has also stimulated more of them to pursue the subject at a higher level than was the case with the traditional-type of course. The potential impact of this new approach is a significant increase in the number of engineering students able to apply the basic principles of materials science and engineering in their own disciplines, as well as some increase in the number of uncommitted students attracted to engineering as a major.
