An Upper Division General Education Course on Materials for Non-Engineering Students
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AN UPPER DIVISION GENERAL EDUCATION COURSE ON MATERIALS FOR NON-ENGINEERING STUDENTS D.F. Bahr and M.G. Norton School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University Pullman WA 99164-2920 ABSTRACT We present the structure of a new course which is designed to expose junior and senior level undergraduates in non-engineering fields to materials. Washington State University has a "General Education" requirement, which requires students to take a variety of courses including the area of sciences, humanities, and technology. We have developed this course to satisfy the requirement for technology for upper division students. The results of the enrollment over the past 3 years are presented: each semester more majors are taking the course, suggesting it is reaching an multidisciplinary audience. Comments from the students and plans for the future are discussed. INTRODUCTION To increase the awareness of materials among the general student population at Washington State University (WSU) we developed a new course, MSE 440 Materials: The Foundations of Society and Technology. This course is taught as a Tier III course in the General Education Program and was offered for the first time in Fall 2000, and has now been offered three times. The General Education Program at WSU is an integrated program where students complete a broad program of study in the Arts and Humanities, Social Science, and Sciences. The Tier III courses are only open to students who have completed at least 60 credit hours of course work and their Tier I and Tier II course requirements. The role of Tier III courses is that they provide a high level of discussion and research in a general education area, but do not require pre-requisites in the course area. The importance of increasing the knowledge and awareness of all students, as citizens in a society increasingly dependent upon science and technology, to areas of science and engineering is of paramount importance. For more than two decades materials science has been highlighted by federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) as one of the key areas for support in both research and education. The National Research Council has stated that: “Materials have been central to the growth, prosperity, security, and quality of life of humans since the beginning of history” [1]. Yet the field, and its importance, remains little known, understood, and recognized outside of those in the Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology (SMET) areas. As Martin Green, the 2001 President of the Materials Research Society (MRS) stated: “We have not tried very hard to educate the public in the past. It is very important that we not continue to make that mistake” [2]. Educating future engineers about materials is an important issue and one that is being addressed at many universities, community colleges, and high schools throughout the country. However, educating all students about this important technological field is also an area that must be addressed. The reasons why graduat
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