A quiet revolution has been taking place in the College of Engineering, and it has wrought significant change in the most fundamental fabric of the college -- the way undergraduate students learn.

The revolution is being waged in the freshman trenches through what are called Academic Excellence Workshops (AEWs). The real ammunition being used in the AEWs is what is still a relatively new approach on university campuses: "collaborative learning."

The AEWs are offered to freshmen and sophomore math students as an optional, voluntary, one-credit, two-hour weekly workshop designed to help them hone their math skills and, perhaps as important, their communication and collaboration skills. Facilitated by upperclass students, the workshops divide underclassmen into small groups, whose members work together to solve problems that parallel those presented in their math classes. The emphasis is on teamwork and problem-solving, not on competition.

Key to the collaborative learning concept is this, said Paul Kintner, professor and associate director of electrical engineering: "Teachers may teach students but they do not 'learn' students. Students learn from each other, and they learn when they can make mistakes in an environment which cannot evaluate them."

The AEWs originally were voluntary for physics students as well, but were considered so effective they now have been incorporated into the regular, mandatory coursework in Physics 112.

"The workshops provide a much more supportive approach to education," said Michael Kelley, professor of electrical engineering. Kelley is one of the creators of the AEWs and of the newer, three-credit course that instructs workshop facilitators in collaborative teaching techniques. "They really reflect a change in thinking many of us have about engineering education."

Ideally, Kelley said, engineering education today is not just about solving problems individually or absorbing wisdom from the predictably white male "sage on stage." Rather, Kelley said, "We realize communications skills are so necessary in the outside world, and much of what happens in the workplace happens as the result of teamwork." Just as it does in the AEWs.

In fact, Kelley considers the collaborative learning methods used in the workshops so successful he has begun to incorporate them into his upper-level classes. Students work together on problems, in teams, and he has stopped grading on a curve to sidestep counterproductive competition.

Several factors coalesced in 1991 to cause faculty in the engineering college to seek a different approach to educating undergraduates, Kelley said. First William Streett, then engineering dean, decided large lecture halls weren't ideal and became determined that freshman math should be taught in classes of no more than 25 students.

At the same time, some faculty were hearing about the collaborative approach to learning and thought it had merit. And finally, while Kelley stressed that the AEWs are neither remedial nor targeted at under-represented minorities and women, he said they were in part a response to the growing diversity of the college's student population.

Early moral support came from the college's Women's Programs in Engineering office, as did financial support -- from a Sloan Foundation grant to improve performance in physics by women in engineering. More recently, support also has come from the Engineering Minority Programs office and from alumna and Cornell trustee Ann S. Bowers AB'59. In each case the idea was to help provide opportunities for students to benefit from an alternative approach that might better match the increasing diversity in learning styles among the student body, Kelley said.

Enrollment in the workshops has grown steadily, from 20 students the first semester to more than 200 in the math sessions alone this past semester.

They've grown at least in part because of word-of-mouth reviews like this from freshman Marta Wojciechowska, who said the AEW helped so much she's taking it again next semester: "It has forced me to actually do problems and understand them. We also got practice prelims to help us study for them ... I did enjoy AEW since I got to meet a lot of people and socialize a bit, while at the same time getting work done."

A few years into the AEWs, Kelley realized something was missing: a vehicle to train the student facilitators how to teach, particularly using collaborative learning techniques. So in 1995 Kelley and Steven Youra, director of the Engineering Communications Program, devised ENGRG 470, the three-credit undergraduate engineering teaching course.

"The course provides these novice teachers with training and support," Youra explained. Weekly sessions address topics such as collaborative learning in mathematics, building effective teams, diversity and learning styles, language and learning, and gender issues in education.

"Facilitators are not in a position of evaluating, judging or grading. As peers, they are closer to the challenges of the material than faculty are. In some cases the professors know the material too well, and that isn't always helpful. Although facilitators do some teaching in the traditional sense, their goal is to help students solve problems together," Youra said.

"Through the AEWs and 470, we're confronting a fundamental irony: students are admitted to Cornell on the basis of their strong achievement as individuals. The traditional education system continues to reward them for their solo achievements. But when they leave school, they must understand how to collaborate effectively with others in an increasingly diverse workplace," Youra said.

Some students become facilitators because they intend to become teachers themselves some day. Youra said the communications skills the course teaches are useful in the workplace and beyond. He said one industry executive who spoke to the class pointed out, "Everything I do is teaching. Teaching clients about problems and the product, teaching coworkers about the client's needs."

Senior Josh Lewis is a facilitator who does not intend to become a teacher, at least initially. He thinks the AEWs are great. For the students, he said, it helps them gain confidence and build relationships. "It's been wonderful. I've been pleasantly surprised. Initially, the students were hesitant to work in groups, but they loosened up and friendships developed in and out of class. Also, when questions arise, it's much easier to ask a fellow student in a small group than it is to stop a large lecture and ask the professor."

And what about the two hours each week students spend in the workshops? It's time well spent, Lewis said. "They could spend two hours struggling on their own with the math concepts, or come to the AEW and struggle through problems with others who may be having the same difficulties. Often, the students discover new ways of approaching problems. They then have one more tool to add to their arsenal."