Revised: November 1998 GEORGIA PERIMETER COLLEGE MATHEMATIC ACADEMIC GROUP COMMON COURSE OUTLINE COURSE ABBREVIATION ENGR 1603 CREDIT HOURS 3 semester hours COURSE TITLE Introduction to Engineering PRE-REQUISITE MATH 1113 with a grade of C or better Catalog Description: The course provides students with an overview of various engineering disciplines to assist them in making well-informed career choices in the profession. Key topics include exploring the nature of the field and career opportunities in civil, chemical, electrical, mechanical and other major disciplines, tools of technical communication, recording and analyzing data, dimensional analysis, computational techniques of approximate solutions and basic statistical tools for quality control. EXPECTED EDUCATIONAL RESULTS As a result of completing this course, the student will be able to do the following: 1. Distinguish between major fields of the engineering profession and identify various career possibilities within any given field 2. Describe general structure of the 4-year engineering curriculum 3. Describe objectives of various professional societies and the advantages of membership 4. Get a better understanding of values (ethics) and responsibilities of an engineer 5. Describe and use customary and SI system of units, converting various physical quantities from one system to the other 6. Verify dimensional consistency of a relationship among physical quantities 7. State and compute various types of errors and check their propagation 8. Collect and record technical data, using different graph scales and coordinates to represent data and establish empirical relationships 9. Define basic statistical terms as they are applied in quality control, computing by least squares the best fit for the data and determining the correlation coefficient 10. Describe and use basic terms in engineering economics viz. present worth, depreciation, annual rate of return, etc 11. Distinguish approximate and exact solutions to equations and find roots of equations in one variable by interval methods GENERAL EDUCATION OUTCOMES This course addresses six of the ten general education goals of the college and they are listed below. I. The general education outcome relating to communications: a. Students enhance reading skills by reading topics from reading material assigned and hand outs in the form of notes. b. Students develop writing skills by practicing exercises, providing short answers to tests/assignments questions and learning correct usage of technical terms in report writing c. Students improve their listening skills by actively participating in class discussion/lecture or demonstration to learn basic concepts II. The general education outcome relating to problem-solving and critical thinking skills Students demonstrate their ability in problem solving through class discussion, group assignments, tests and technical report. III. The general education outcome relating to the use of mathematical concepts Students apply mathematical concepts to evaluate, understand and process technical data to solve problems IV. Students organize and analyze the information to complete assignments and reports by using word processing and spreadsheet software V. The general education outcome relating to the use of scientific inquiry Many of the topics in this course are carefully selected so as to require them to comprehend, understand and appreciate the importance of scientific inquiry as an integral part of engineering profession VI. The general education outcome relating to analyzing competing values Students are introduced to various issues relating to ethical values and professional responsibilities and learn the role of an engineer in the work place. COURSE CONTENT 1. Discussion about various fields of engineering, with particular attention to opportunities in each field. Ethics and professional responsibility (13%) 2. To provide familiarity with engineering language and its terminology (10%) 3. Basic methods and techniques of engineering - recording, analyzing and solving problems (12%) 4. Engineering estimation/approximation, dimensional analysis, units of measurement, significant figures, scientific notation (20%) 5. Basic understanding of computational techniques, computer analysis and applications (22%) 6. Representing engineering data by using statistical techniques, evaluating for accuracy by error analysis (15%) 7. Engineering economy - annual rate of return, present worth, depreciation, etc (8%) ENTRY LEVEL COMPETENCIES Upon entering this course the student should be able to do the following: 1. Competency in mathematics as described in the expected educational objectives at the level of MATH 1113. ASSESSMENT OF EXPECTED EDUCATIONAL RESULTS I. COURSE GRADE The course grade is to be determined by the individual instructor by variety of evaluation techniques consistent with the overall college policy. The procedure should include class/home work, at least three tests, a comprehensive final examination and a technical report. II. DEPARTMENTAL ASSESSMENT Assessment of the expected educational results of this course must be conducted every five years. The assessment instrument will be a set of selected questions that cover majority of the topics in the course content section from the final examination. III. USE OF ASSESSMENT FINDINGS The Engineering committee will evaluate the findings and determine the level of success in expected educational results and consider recommending to the Discipline Academic Group executive committee, any changes in the curriculum after careful review of curricula of transfer institutions. EFFFECTIVE DATE: August, 1998 APPROVED DATE: May, 1998