The Minneapolis chemistry teachers have prepared a manual of experiments which is the result of five years of careful study. Some of the JESSIE CAPLIN, West High.

Learning communities that dual enroll students in a block of two or more common courses have been implemented across the country in a variety of disciplines and first-year experience programs as a means of increasing retention of first-year students. However, these curricular adaptations are not commonly found in engineering programs. Since fall 2007, engineering and mathematics faculty at West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) have worked in coordination with the WTAMU Office of First-Year Experience to offer engineering learning communities that dual enroll first-year engineering students into a section of Fundamentals of Engineering and a freshman level mathematics course, either Pre-Calculus or Calculus I. In spring 2010, this program expanded to offer a learning community linking Calculus II and Engineering Statics. This engineering learning community model integrates the curriculum of mathematics and engineering and through Problem-Based Learning (PBL) experiences provide real world application for the students. Students enrolled in the learning community have shown a higher rate of success in the learning community mathematics courses and through surveys and focus groups have indicated a stronger intent to persist in the engineering field and student impressions of larger gains in engineering problem solving skills than first year engineering students not enrolled in the learning community.