Abstract
While a reform of the university education conscious of JABEE examination progresses in the universities in Japan, an enforcement of the introductory subject for freshmen to the faculty of engineering is going on. This paper reports on an introductory design subject entitled "A Guide to Engineering", which has been offered the freshmen of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Kyushu University for three years. The background under which this subject was planed to set up is described at the beginning. Next, the outline of the subject and proceeding of the class are shown with taking the author's class as an example. After being shown the educational effects and the problems with the results of questionnaire survey obtained from both the students and the professors, merits and demerits to offer this type of introductory subject to the freshmen are discussed. Finally, he conclusion that introducing this type of introductory subject to the education program for mechanical engineering is very effective to improve achievement of the students in Japanese universities is conducted.
