<p>The info I have seen on WPI make it look like a good match for my son. He is looking for as much hands-on education as possible. Does the WPI curriculum truly have more hands-on training than other schools, or are the IQP and MQP simply add-ons to a traditional curriculum? Also, the project-based learning community participants still have to take the usual chemistry and physics exams. Do they learn the required material in the course of doing the projects, or do they simply have to do the extra textbook work on their own or through lectures in addition to their projects? Are the Great Problems Seminars just interesting thought problems or a way to learn engineering? In other words, is the WPI curriculum different, or do they just dress up and market their offerings differently from other schools.</p>
<p>I am currently a freshman at WPI and find the academic environment to be quite pleasing. I would say that by going to WPI you will get a learning experience different from most schools. I have only taken basic courses so far, but have already had my share of physics labs and machine shop experience. The project-based learning community adds a class to your schedule, and is taken in supplement to your usual courses. By participating in this, you can make it what you wish to make it. It can act as an introduction of the IQP and MQP to come, as far as working on a team towards a similar goal. Also, note the IQP and MQP can help you to stand out from a crowd of applicants to a company or grad school. If you want to learn by doing, WPI is the school for you.</p>
<p>Are shops and labs generally part of the freshman curriculum at other schools, or is the traditional lecture format more typical? I wasn’t an engineering major and didn’t have (or want!) hands-on education. Again, is WPI different? Cal Poly and some other schools also promote this angle. Are they more hands-on than, say, RPI?</p>
<p>I can say that WPI is very hands on, even before MQP/IQP
I have completed 6 classes: 2 math 2 physics 1 humanities and 1 engineering
in both math classes, we had labs once a week in addition to the lectures. none of my friends at other schools had labs for math. (although i have heard that there arent labs for our upper level math classes)
both of my physics classes had 2 labs per week and culminated in a final project
my engineering class had a lab every week and we had 24/7 lab access to work on the assignments. this class also culminated in a final project and a presentation.</p>
<p>as far as i can tell, many of the classes will prepare you for the projects and presentations that go along with MQP/IQP. my engineering course was especially hands-on, with the focus being more on how you apply what you learn than the actual lecture information itself.</p>
<p>Depends on the course and the professors. The math labs are very useless as they involve nothing more than using Maple to do a few algebraic manipulations or to graph functions. Most students are intelligent enough to learn Maple on thier own and can do these assignments at thier dorms (the software is freely downloadable for WPI students). In Physics, we never had a final project as only one of the professors assigns them. However, a good lecture can be much better than a bad project (although in general, most lectures, labs, and projects are quite good at WPI).</p>
<p>That being said, for robotics engineering and computer science labs are very useful. In the accelerated intro course, the labs were long enough (and challenging enough) that nobody could complete them within the given time (although they are not graded for completeness). Also, teaching assistants were there to help students who needed specific help. This way, students know how quickly or slowly they are doing things relative to what is expected (do they need practice?) and are able to see how well they really understand something (seeing something done vs doing it).</p>
<p>I don’t know much about RPI but I hear that it is also pretty good as well. RPI has a stronger graduate program.</p>
<p>
I guess that would be the professor S had since he did have to do a final (group) project in Physics.</p>
<p>for the most part, the whole “learning by doing” angle is marketing hype at all the schools that advertise it. It would be very expensive to train aspiring engineers through “real” projects with real equipment. For example, if every ME was expected to design a real automobile and have it manufactured, WPI would easily go broke lol.</p>
<p>In practice, there are a few courses that really stick out and have a strong hands-on aspect. The machine-lab course within Mechanical Engineering is well-liked, for example. Even here, the end result is a small widget (a motor I think), but its cool to use the machines I suppose. </p>
<p>Then there are a whole clump of courses that have a lab component, but you end up doing very small-scale/toy stuff. You are doing “hands on” stuff but it is mostly just a regurgitation of the lecture. You make sure your lab result meets the expected result derived from the equations…big deal. </p>
<p>Then there are the straight-up lecture courses. Most courses, even at WPI, fall in this category. </p>
<p>The good thing at WPI is that the teaching quality is VERY high relative to what I have seen at other colleges. The class sizes are usually quite small and the faculty are very accessible. WPI focuses on teaching over research, at the expense of its US news rankings (the way to move up the ranking is to lure rock-star faculty who bring in major research dollars, attract top grad students, etc).</p>
<p>Maybe I shouldn’t have emphasized the words “hands on” and focused more on the concept of “project-based.” It seems that even beyond the IQP and MQP that there are other opportunities (like the Project Based Learning Community) to learn by working together, researching, and presenting rather than sitting in a classroom and digesting. The latter will always be a part of college, but my question is whether the opportunities to work in groups on a project exceed those at other institutions and whether this approach is truly an integral and unique part of the WPI experience. Or is this more of same with a different label?</p>
<p>“but my question is whether the opportunities to work in groups on a project exceed those at other institutions and whether this approach is truly an integral and unique part of the WPI experience. Or is this more of same with a different label?”</p>
<p>YES, WPI exceeds other schools in providing teamwork experience (GPS-IQP). The teamwork experience gained through these projects is invaluable and greatly appeals to employers. I have been told this by WPI Alumni- I am not trying to make WPI seem better than it is.</p>
<p>There are occasionally projects in classes but to be honest theres not as many as I thought they would be. I do believe that WPI over-markets themselves as a “small-classes hands-on approach to learning school.” From my experience as a Civil engineering major, the classes rarely get smaller than 20 students- but this may be because CE is a popular major, and even the lab classes are not intensively hands-on. The MQP is marketed as something special but its really just the Senior Project that nearly every school has. The only appeal might be that you can do it abroad (only some majors can).</p>
<p>Nevertheless, its a great school! :)</p>
<p>Does anyone know if you take the two one-term classes for one of the Great Problems Seminars, do these courses count toward any of the Arts & Humanities or Social Sciences requirements or do they only count toward “free electives”?</p>
<p>Here’s a link for you to read more about each of the GPS programs that will be offered for the class of 2015. It says what credits you will receive. </p>
<p>[Office</a> of Academic Advising - Great Problems Seminars (GPS)](<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/Admin/OAA/Designs/gpsandplc.html#gps]Office”>http://www.wpi.edu/Admin/OAA/Designs/gpsandplc.html#gps)</p>
<p>So it appears GPS courses count toward “general elective” credits only so that means they do not meet any of the Arts & Humanities or Social Science requirements, and they do not satisfy a science requirement for certain degrees (biology or chemistry for a EE major, for example). Correct?</p>
<p>[Department</a> of Humanities & Arts - AP Credit Policy](<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/academics/Depts/HUA/Programs/ap-credit.html]Department”>http://www.wpi.edu/academics/Depts/HUA/Programs/ap-credit.html)</p>
<p>Incorrect. </p>
<p>This is kind of a bitter topic with me. I took Heal the World (HTW) my freshman year and basically got two “worthless” elective credits from it. The management credit I received from HTW was worthless since I’m not a business minor, but the biology credit could have helped had I planned my courses right.</p>
<p>IF (with an emphasis on ‘IF’) you plan it correctly they can certainly count towards your science/humanities/social science requirements. In my case I needed a biology class at the 2000 level or above, so the 1000 basic biology credit didn’t meet my science requirement.</p>
<p>WPI seems to push the GPS course on the freshmen as a intro to their project based approach. One would think that they would insure that these courses mean something as far as credits go.</p>
<p>My son (a CS major) took the “Grand Challenges” GPS seminar. One of the credits counted towards his humanities requirements, and the other towards his science requirements. So it can work out, but you really need to look closely at the credits granted for each GPS course, and how they fit with the student’s major.</p>
<p>I know that RBE majors are encouraged to take the “Power the World” GPS course, if they want to take a GPS course. That seminar will count towards their humanities and science requirements.</p>
<p>My son really enjoyed his GPS class.</p>