Over the last twenty years, NSF and the engineering community have called for systemic changes in engineering education, including an emphasis on contextual understanding; increased teaming skills, including collaborative, active learning; and an improved capacity for life-long, self-directed learning. In addition, ABET has called for engineering graduates that demonstrate an ability to apply science and engineering, and ABET requires assessment processes designed to measure student achievement of learning outcomes. Olin College has responded to these calls for change by embracing new learning approaches and assessment techniques, and by developing project-based courses that encourage experiential understanding of content and aid the development of life-long learning skills. To address the assessment needs of new pedagogical approaches, Olin recently instituted a competency based assessment system to accompany the traditional course grading system already in place. The thread of competency assessments provides grading coherency for both faculty and students, and it provides students with valuable information concerning their development of nontraditional skills that they could use to identify shortcomings and further their learning. In this paper, we describe the new pedagogical approaches in Olin's introductory materials science course, and we explain our implementation of the competency assessment system to measure student attainment of both materials science knowledge and broader skills such as teaming, communication, and experimental inquiry.

This paper presents the initial design of the engineering entrepreneurship curriculum for the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. The methods for design, components of the curriculum and how the curriculum is interwoven with mainstream engineering disciplines at Olin College are described. The major elements of the curriculum that is being planned include: (1) a set of modules for learning the basics of entrepreneurship, (2) interaction with several on-campus and distributed hatcheries, (3) a set of in-depth learning interactions (projects, modules, courses) that provide depth of knowledge in engineering entrepreneurship and (4) capstone experiences in entrepreneurship during the sophomore year and the final year of the undergraduate curriculum. New courses/modules specifically targeted on technology entrepreneurship are being designed between Babson College and Olin College. Babson College's number one ranking in entrepreneurship is being fully leveraged by joint appointments of faculty, cross registrations between Olin and Babson and the initiation of many projects between the two schools designed to create the premier engineering/technology entrepreneurship curriculum in the world.

Imagine a course block in which students discuss the cultural implications of 17 th century iron working in North America in one hour, and design experiments to examine connections between composition and strength in modern steel padlocks immediately afterward. In the Paul Revere: Tough as Nails course block, students don't just study materials science and history of technology topics … they experience them. Through a series of readings, discussions, and selfdesigned projects, students explore materials science concepts alongside the social, cultural, and environmental factors that shaped technological and scientific history. Although some formal inclass activities are planned, many class sessions are flexible, allowing students to engage in individualized learning approaches. The projects are loosely framed, enabling students to develop key competencies while investigating topics of personal interest and controlling project focus and direction. In this paper, we discuss the processes and motivating factors that led to the initial design and continued development of the Paul Revere: Tough as Nails course block. We describe the philosophical and practical benefits of the course, and we elucidate the important role the course plays in our engineering curriculum.