MIT EECS - New UG Curriculum in EECS newsletter 2007

The current proposed SB requirements can be described in terms of a 4-level classification of subjects:

•The Introductory subjects are fully integrated introductions to EECS that introduce the big ideas of EECS in an applied context. All students will take the same two introductory subjects. In addition students are required to take two Mathematics subjects beyond the Institute-required calculus subjects.

•The Foundation subjects are intended to lay the technical foundations for study in EECS. Students will select three of these subjects from a list that currently includes: Circuits and Electronics, Signals and Systems, Computation Structures, Software Design, Analysis and Design of Algorithms.

•The Concentration subjects begin an in-depth exploration of the major areas of EECS. Students will select three subjects from a list that currently includes seven subjects; initially this list is very similar to our existing Header subjects. In addition, the students must select one laboratory subject from a list that includes approximately 10 subjects.

•Advanced subjects are undergraduate subjects that build on the concentration subjects and go deeper into some area. Students will take two advanced subjects. One of our key objectives is to ensure that students explore some of the concentrations in department




	New Undergraduate Curriculum
	EECS Curriculum Innovation Committee
	The department is undertaking its first major curriculum revision in a dozen years. A key aim of this revision is to take significant advantage of our joint EECS department. The intersections between EE and CS, as technical disciplines, are deep and varied. One visible point of contact is in computer architecture and digital design; but there are also important contacts between artificial intelligence and estimation and control; between computer networking and information theory and coding; between numerical methods and computational biology; between hearing and speech and natural language; between computer vision and speech and signal processing. Our goal is to have students experience EECS, not just EE and CS. To that end, we will immerse them early in an integrated experience, exposing them to the breadth and richness of the field. The field of EECS is so broad, however, that no student can be grounded in everything EECS has to offer. Traditionally, we have focused on a small set of “core” topics that all students are required to study.	Because there is a huge range of important, elementary material, any particular subset will necessarily omit many fascinating and fundamental topics. Instead, our new approach is to insist that students study a broad set of fundamentals, but not that every student study exactly the same set. We believe that a combination of the integrated introductory experience and early exposure to a broader choice of subjects will help students appreciate the range of possible intellectual and career opportunities in EECS. While breadth is important, it is also crucial for students to attain mastery in some area. This gives satisfaction and a sense of achievement, as well as the confidence and ability to go on to master new areas. In this curriculum, we will ask undergraduates to choose two specialization areas to study in depth, and to build a curriculum of foundational subjects that support study in those areas. This experience will serve well students who do not continue on for the Masters degree; and it will provide a depth of knowledge that will enhance and deepen the MEng experience for those who do.	The current proposed SB requirements can be described in terms of a 4-level classification of subjects: •The Introductory subjects are fully integrated introductions to EECS that introduce the big ideas of EECS in an applied context. All students will take the same two introductory subjects. In addition students are required to take two Mathematics subjects beyond the Institute-required calculus subjects. •The Foundation subjects are intended to lay the technical foundations for study in EECS. Students will select three of these subjects from a list that currently includes: Circuits and Electronics, Signals and Systems, Computation Structures, Software Design, Analysis and Design of Algorithms. •The Concentration subjects begin an in-depth exploration of the major areas of EECS. Students will select three subjects from a list that currently includes seven subjects; initially this list is very similar to our existing Header subjects. In addition, the students must select one laboratory subject from a list that includes approximately 10 subjects. •Advanced subjects are undergraduate subjects that build on the concentration subjects and go deeper into some area. Students will take two advanced subjects. One of our key objectives is to ensure that students explore some of the concentrations in department The intent is that each level of subject has, in general, prerequisites from the previous level, with the introductory level having prerequisites in the general Institute requirements. Our expectation is that this new curriculum will balance breadth and depth, give students a range of foundational knowledge, and provide mastery in some subareas of EECS. — Members of the EECS Curriculum Innovation Committee, Tomás Lozano-Pérez, chairman
	EECS Sophomores Ben Gleitzman, Ricky Ramirez and Bil Magnuson as they make final adjustments to enable their robot in 6.099 to turn and drive toward a light, and then play the Hallelujah Chorus when it reached close enough, Spring term 2006.
	newcurriculum home page
EECS Home Page \| Site Map \| Search \| About this page \| Comments and inquiries welcome

New Undergraduate Curriculum

EECS Curriculum Innovation Committee