Materials and Mechanics: A Multidisciplinary Course Incorporating Experiential, Project/Problem-Based, and Work-Integrated Learning Approaches for Undergraduates

The Madison Engineering Department is an undergraduate non-discipline specific engineering program at James Madison University. The program acknowledges that future engineers should not be constrained by disciplinary boundaries but demonstrate the ability to adapt and work across disciplines within team atmospheres. The program blends engineering science fundamentals with sustainable design to integrate environmental, social, economic, and technical contexts plus systems thinking while maintaining the university-wide liberal arts core. Madison Engineering is dedicated to the development of engineering versatilists who can readily integrate knowledge from historically different fields of engineering. In support of this development, several courses within the curriculum integrate topics that are traditionally taught separately. This chapter described ENGR 314: Materials & Mechanics, a course that integrates concepts from the traditional content of stand-alone courses (materials science and mechanics of materials) via a semester long design project in which students must incorporate knowledge of both sets of content.

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