Special Programs for First Year Students
Insight Program
In WPI’s Insight Program, groups of 25 to 30 first-year students are advised by a faculty mentor who makes a real commitment to working with first-year students. These faculty members represent all the departments and programs at WPI, and in many cases are the senior faculty members and the most experienced advisors. Each faculty advisor works with two advanced undergraduates, the Community Advisor and the Residence Advisor, to schedule activities focusing on time-management, study skills, test-taking strategies, and community service. The Insight Program purposefully blends the academic and social aspects of life at WPI.
Great Problems Seminars
This is a two-course sequence designed to serve as an introduction to project work and university-level research with a focus on themes of current global importance. The Great Problem Seminars (GPS) are all about important problems. Everything students do is tied to current events, societal problems and human needs. The skills students develop are exactly what they need to be successful both in project work at WPI and in their future careers.
Example: In 2007, the Feed the World Seminar was built around a sequence of projects tied to food, ranging from the biology of genetically engineered corn to the ethics of price supports and fair trade. This seminar provided one course credit in Chemistry and one course credit in Humanities.
Example: In 2007, the Power the World Seminar was built around a sequence of projects tied to energy, ranging from the physics of power generation to the ways that new technologies have changed societies. Students in Power the World earned credit for one course in Physics and one course in Humanities.
New themes will be offered each year.
Enrollment is limited.
Project -Based Learning Comunity (PLC)
WPI offers a program that blends Physics, Math, and Humanities or Social Science together in a unified learning experience constructed around group projects. The students involved are provided with a special opportunity to explore the relationship between mathematics and science and to appreciate their place in history and society. Benefits of the PLC include an outstanding student-teacher ratio (about 24 to 3); emphasis on teamwork over multiple projects; a new social community and meeting place to build lasting relationships with other first-year students.
The students “own” the PLC room for all of A and B terms. All of these classes are held in this room that is equipped with computers, white boards, and plenty of space to work. WPI’s Project-based Learning Community is committed to experimenting with ways of learning through the structure of small group projects and study communities.
Students in the PLC earn credit for two courses in Calculus, Physics, and Humanities.
Enrollment is limited.
Additional Resources on the Web
The Undergraduate Programs Web Site
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: July 18, 2008 09:42:50