For the most part, engineering education hasn't fundamentally changed in 100 years or longer. Until now. We rebuilt our first-year program from the ground up so you can gain the skills and knowlege you need for your degree and your career as a licensed professional engineer.
RE-ENGINEERED is the most innovative first-year program in Canada.
Introducing RE-ENGINEERED
How is it different?
Timetable: We've changed the first-year engineering timetable to help you with school/life balance.
Classes: We've made your classes broader and more relevant to real-world engineering.
Grading: You'll be graded on your competency and skills, not how well you can memorize large amounts of material.
Timetable
Redesigned to support your learning and school/life balance
Consistent Schedule: All first years share the same schedule, with no night classes and a common lunch hour, so it's easier to have community-building social events and extracurriculars, or fit in some exercise.
Modular Courses: Instead of taking five or six classes that last the full semester, courses will be shorter so we have the flexibility to cover more essential material with you.
Just-in-Time Learning: Material will be carefully sequenced, so when you learn material in one course, you'll be able to immediately apply it in another.
Classes
Revitalized to get you inspired and excited about engineering.
Strong transition to engineering
- Summer top-ups before your classes start in fall, so you know you're prepared for first year
- Review of life and study skills, including time management, critical thinking and peer-to-peer teaching skills
- Introduction to engineering: scope of the profession and career paths
Broader exposure to natural sciences
- Get a strong introduction to the natural sciences in fall term, rather than taking one natural science elective
- Take short courses in chemistry, biology, physics and geology
- You'll understand how the sciences relate to each other and engineering
Introduction to all engineering disciplines
- Spend a day with each of your top discipline choices before end of Fall Term
- Choose your discipline before end of Winter Term
- Do Discipline Bridge Course at end of Winter Term to get motivated and excited about second-year engineering
Holistic approach to the engineering profession
- Business content focussed on awareness of entrepreneurship and how that relates to design
- Understand and appreciate the importance of respect, diversity, and inclusivity
- Learn Indigenous cultural context, settign the stage for integration of Indigenous content in the curriculum
Be more employable after first-year
- Proficiency in one computer-programming language
- Training in basic first-aid, CPR, and WHMIS training and understanding of an engineer's professional obigation for health and safety
Grading
Refocused so you can master the skills you need
Evaluation throughout the semester: You will be tested on modules of content throughout your courses using competency-based assessment.
70 percent minimum on basic material: You will need to achieve a mark of at least 70 percent on material involving facts, concepts, basic computations, and procedural steps, as well as basic integrative problems in the course. There will be no minimum standard for the very advanced material.
No final exams: Final exam periods in December and April will be used for discipline-specific, hands-on learning.
"We want to minimize academic attrition by supporting students better and by co-ordinating what we're doing across the courses better. It won't be easier, but it will be more supportive and thorough."
-Professor Sean Maw, PhD, PEng, Jerry G. Huff Chair in Innovative Teaching and team member on the RE-ENGINEERED first-year redesign team
Questions?
Interested in applying? Learn about admission requirements and deadlines and access the online application on the USask Admissions site.
Contact the Engineering Student Centre if you have more questions.