Learning MATLAB: Evaluation of methods and materials for first-year engineering students

The paper describes the development of a MATLAB course as part of a first-year introductory engineering course 'Perspectives of Vehicle Engineering' in the MSc programme in Vehicle Engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. This course is intended to give core engineering knowledge and experience, and to prepare the students for their studies in engineering mechanics and vehicle engineering. The expectation is that the students, upon completion of the MATLAB course, will have acquired the ability to use MATLAB in later courses in the curriculum where MATLAB is chosen to be the primary computational and visualisation tool. The development work was divided into three parts. The first part contained a preparatory phase in which the work was planned, the purpose and objectives formulated, the course content and implementation planned, and suitable instructional materials identified. The next step was to select a student test group to go through a trial run of the course, using the different options available for instructional materials. The experiences obtained from the test group's efforts, and their results, were the basis for carrying out the first year of regular instruction of the MATLAB course. In the third and final phase of the course development, it was given for the first time as an ordinary part of the curriculum for first-year students in the KTH vehicle engineering program. The results and experiences obtained from that 1st year will serve as a basis for modifications to the MATLAB course to be given in later years.