Case Study: University of Alberta achieves improved first-year engineering student outcomes with MathWorks' MATLAB

University of Alberta Improves First-Year Engineering Student Outcomes with MATLAB Programming

The University of Alberta, which enrolls more than 900 students in its ENCM 100 introductory programming course, faced student dissatisfaction and instructor frustration when the course relied on procedural C++—a steep learning curve that hindered engagement and algorithmic thinking across engineering disciplines. To address this, the department worked with MathWorks to adopt MATLAB as the primary teaching language and environment, backed by a Campus-Wide License to ensure student access.

MathWorks’ MATLAB was used to redesign the course around iterative, applied projects (notably a six-part remake of the Gorillas video game), labs, quizzes, and an optional programming contest, allowing instructors to emphasize algorithmic thinking, refactoring, and software engineering concepts. The MathWorks-based solution led to measurable improvements: instructor ratings rose from about 4.3–4.4 to 4.5–4.7, the curriculum expanded to cover more material, students entered upper-level courses better prepared, and 30 students participated in the inaugural contest.

University of Alberta

Dileepan Joseph

Associate Professor of Engineering