The First Year as Engineering Student

In this paper comparative data from four cohorts of engineering students´expectations and experiences during their first study year are presented and discussed. The study is one part of an ongoing longitudinal study. The data from the first cohorts, 1998 and 1999, are base-line data against which data from the latter cohorts, 2000 and 2002, are compared. Comparisons are made in relation to the planning and implementation of a CDIO curriculum from 1999 and on.

The results show a changing approach to studying between the first and the latter cohorts, from an achievement and future oriented approach to a gratifying and here- and-now oriented approach.