Integrated Learning Engineering - Taking First Year Engineering into Secondary Schools

A program (Integrated Learning Engineering) that takes first year engineering courses and delivers them within a secondary school setting to Year 11 and Year 12 students is discussed. The program admission criteria, likely benefits and issues to be considered are presented. Indicators of student effort and engagement with the program are discussed as possible identifiers of the need for intervention and support for students in the program. Feedback from students who participated in the program is also presented and indicates significant recognition of the opportunity provided. The feedback also suggests the program provided a positive sample of what the first year university experience might be like and so could be a very effective way to present engineering as a possible career option to secondary students. The approach taken in the Integrated Learning Engineering Program could be applied to other disciplines as well