The purpose of this research was to design and test materials and methods to be used in teaching a first course in undergraduate engineering dynamics. The basic problem in this study was to determine the optimum order of presenting abstract materials and applications in the same course. Tests were administered to determine differences among students' learning of the technical content and their ability to apply this information in open-ended, problem solving situations. The test results indicated that the groups had learned an equivalent amount of the technical content, but had not learned different application skills. One group, introduced to each new topic through practical demonstrations before being exposed to the topical content through programmed materials, was able to generate a larger number of creative solutions to problems and was more effective in solving problems involving inconsistencies. (RP)