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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
Olin College sophomores participate in integrated course blocks that merge technical content with business, arts, humanities, and social science topics, allowing students to work on engineering projects that have broader implications than the purely technical. In this paper, we present Paul Revere: Tough as Nails, a multidisciplinary course block that combines an introductory materials science course with a history of technology course and a large scale project. In Paul Revere, students explore connections between historical and technological materials science developments through examinations of Paul Revere's metallurgical work and analyses of the relevant social, environmental, political, and economic aspects that contribute to ancient and modern technologies. The explicit linkages among technical, non-technical, and hands-on aspects of the course improve learning of traditional topics, help drive interdisciplinary thinking, and lead to a high level of student satisfaction and motivation throughout the semester.