An interdisciplinary undergraduate course bridging the gaps between engineering, science, and the arts

Abstract

This paper presents an innovative interdisciplinary undergraduate course that simultaneously engages the disciplines of engineering, science and arts. This course is intended to motivate students to reach across the boundaries of their own disciplines and advance their critical thinking, creative problem-solving and computational thinking skills, while learning the relevant technical knowledge. The structure, objectives, assessment strategies, results, and student deliverables from the first course offering are the focus of this paper. These promising results provide a model with which to evaluate effective approaches for interdisciplinary higher education. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2010.