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Session 3486

Transfer Facilitation for Engineering Students Through Distance Education J. Wesley Hines, Fred E. Weber, John W. Prados The University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996-2300

Kurt Gramoll The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK 73019

Abstract: Data gathered at The University of Tennessee (UT) show that most students who transfer into engineering programs from two-year pre-engineering programs have not had all of the required prerequisite classes to start their junior year. This causes the student’s average graduation time to increase by two semesters. A partnership between UT and the University of Oklahoma are developing three common prerequisite engineering courses to be delivered over the Internet to Community College students to alleviate this unnecessary delay. 1. Introduction In recent years, pre-engineering programs have been developed across America in Community Colleges, Junior Colleges and Liberal Arts Colleges. These institutions prepare students for transfer to engineering degree programs in the 320 or so U.S. four-year universities with accredited engineering programs. This transfer is usually accomplished after the sophomore year and is often facilitated by an articulation agreement between the pre-engineering institution and the four-year university. The promise of lower education costs and greater personal convenience for students participating in these joint programs has not been fully realized because of the unavailability of certain essential, specialized courses in the pre-engineering programs. Because of this problem, some students may abandon their desired engineering curricula or spend extra time earning their degrees. Engineering curricula are highly structured and vertically integrated, with each course building on prerequisite courses in mathematics, science and/or earlier engineering courses. In most universities, engineering curricula require major-field courses and out-of-discipline engineering service courses at the sophomore level. It is not cost-effective for pre-engineering programs to offer the specialized, sophomore-level engineering courses needed because the number of students involved is too small at any single institution. Distance education provides a means to serve these students and eliminate a major barrier to the successful completion of an engineering degree program. Distance education providers can serve these students and achieve adequate enrollments by attracting students from throughout their service region or the nation. The pre-engineering programs in the US are already providing large numbers of transfer students to engineering programs. An ASEE report [1] stated that in 1998, 34.6% of new engineering students were transfer students. From this and other information, we estimate that about one in five junior level engineering students (15,300 students annually) in US universities transferred as junior-level students and that about 13,000 of these students go on to earn engineering degrees every year. Data at The University of Tennessee show that students who transfer to the University as Juniors (60 semester hours of transfer credit) require more time to graduate than

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Hines, J., & Weber, F., & Prados, J., & Gramoll, K. (2003, June), Transfer Facilitation For Engineering Students Through Distance Education Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12337