Conference Session

The Ever-Changing Course

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amy Thompson, University of New Haven; Jean Nocito-Gobel, University of New Haven

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

this level. Wigal introduces these concepts through lecture material and hands-ondesign exercises and includes introduction of systems engineering tools such as objective trees,functional block diagrams and function node trees. The purpose of introducing these systemengineering methods is to get students thinking about complex relationships, in a non-linearfashion. Wigal discusses and presents systems thinking activities like “mind mapping” andbrainstorming to get students to begin thinking non-linearly and functionally, instead ofphysically.Existing Project-Based Engineering CourseEngineering faculty at the University of New Haven have designed a Project-Based Introductionto Engineering course with the objectives to introduce students to the

Conference Session

Retention Tools and Programs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amber Kemppainen, Michigan Technological University; Amy Hamlin, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

AC 2009-764: USING ENGINEERING DESIGN AS A RETENTION TOOL FORFIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTSAmber Kemppainen, Michigan Technological University Amber Kemppainen is a Lecturer in the Engineering Fundamentals Department at Michigan Technological University where she teaches first year engineering courses. Her research interests include online learning, ethanol production and sustainability.Amy Hamlin, Michigan Technological University Amy J. Hamlin is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Engineering Fundamentals at Michigan Technological University where she teaches first year engineering courses and an introductory spatial visualization course. Additionally, she advises General Engineering and

Conference Session

Goal Specific First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Taryn Bayles, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

AC 2009-1482: INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING DESIGN: AN EMPHASIS ONCOMMUNICATIONTaryn Bayles, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Taryn Bayles is a Professor of the Practice of Chemical Engineering in the Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department at UMBC, where she incorporates her industrial experience by bringing practical examples and interactive learning to help students understand fundamental engineering principles. Her current research focuses on engineering education, outreach and curriculum development. Page 14.813.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Introduction to

Conference Session

The Ever-Changing Course

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gretchen Hein, Michigan Technological University; Jean Kampe, Michigan Technological University; Amber Kemppainen, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

initial team building activity. Many of the designs were entered in a competition to raisemoney for Pennies for Peace (an organization that builds schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan).The students completed a basic statistical analysis on the funds collected and summarized theresults. In ENG1101, students were introduced to the engineering design process as theyprogressed through an eight-week, design/construct, team-based project that focused on greenengineering. Design constraints for the project imposed a 50% lower limit on post-consumermaterials used in construction, and the student teams were instructed to keep the environmentalimpact of their design very much in mind from the beginning of the design process and as theymoved through to

Conference Session

Exploring Retention

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Freeman, Northeastern University; Beverly Jaeger, Beverly Jaeger, and Richard Whalen are members of Northeastern University’s; Richard Whalen, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

personal influences can be varied, depending on the level ofinvolvement the educators have with their students.The question remains, how effective are each of these methods in inspiring our youth to theSTEM disciplines? A primary consideration involves looking at the cost of programs vs.efficacy? What is really inviting, informing, changing minds, and providing opportunities to ourprospective engineers?Population and LogisticsIn order to capture students’ perspectives on what they perceive as the strongest influences ontheir choice to begin in engineering, we surveyed our first-year engineering students atNortheastern University on the first day of class in the fall semester. These students come fromall majors, or more accurately, are undeclared

Conference Session

Retention Tools and Programs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daina Briedis, Michigan State University; Neeraj Buch, Michigan State University; Jan Collins-Eaglin, Michigan State University; Nathaniel Ehrlich, Michigan State University; Denise Fleming, Michigan State University; Timothy Hinds, Michigan State University; Jon Sticklen, Michigan State University; Mark Urban-Lurain, Michigan State University; Thomas Wolff, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

AC 2009-864: CONNECTOR FACULTY: A FRIENDLY FACE FOR EARLYENGINEERING STUDENTSDaina Briedis, Michigan State University Dr. DAINA BRIEDIS is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at Michigan State University. Dr. Briedis has been involved in several areas of education research including student retention, curriculum redesign, and the use of technology in the classroom. She is a co-PI on two NSF grants in the areas of integration of computation in engineering curricula and in developing comprehensive strategies to retain early engineering students. She is active nationally and internationally in engineering accreditation and is a Fellow of

Conference Session

Goal Specific First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Lewis, University of Louisville; Jeffrey Hieb, University of Louisville; David Wheatley, University of Louisville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

course. The assessment was designed with engineering students in mind. Theassessment consisted of five multiple choice questions, and five Likert Scale ranking questionsand one open ended question. Only the multiple choice questions are relevant for this paper.The five multiple choice questions had two themes. Two of the multiple choice questionspertained to the concept of critical thinking, asking students to demonstrate their understandingof critical thinking. A listing of the assessment questions is available in Appendix C. Forexample, one of the questions was: Aspects of critical thinking involve all of the following EXCEPT: a. Critical judgments b. Elements of reasoning c. Essential intellectual

Conference Session

Potpourri

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Summer Dann Johnson, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; John Scalzo, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Sarah Jones, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Kelly Rusch, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Warren Waggenspack, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

AC 2009-1327: ENG2: ENGINEERING ENGAGEMENT FOR STUDENTSUCCESS--BUILDING A COMMUNITY FOR FIRST-YEAR FRESHMEN IN THECOLLEGE OF ENGINEERINGSummer Dann Johnson, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge Ms Dann is currently employed by the Dean's office at LSU as the STEP program coordinator. Ms. Dann earned her bachelors and masters degree in Mechanical Engineering at LSU and employed in private industry prior to her current position.John Scalzo, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge Mr. Scalzo is the Associate Rector of the Engineering Residential College and an instructor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. He earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1992

Conference Session

Projects and Problems in First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mehrube Mehrubeoglu, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

AC 2009-270: A LEGO ROBOT PROJECT USING CONCEPT MAPS ANDPEER-LED TEAMS FOR A FRESHMAN COURSE IN ENGINEERING ANDENGINEERING TECHNOLOGYMehrube Mehrubeoglu, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi Dr. Mehrubeoglu received her B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Bioengineering and Electrical Engineering, respectively, from Texas A&M University. After working as a research engineer and software engineer at Electroscientific Industries, where she developed new algorithms for machine vision problems, she joined Cyprus International University as the Chair of Department of Computer Engineering. After returning to Texas she

Conference Session

Retention Tools and Programs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jon Sticklen, Michigan State University; Thomas Wolff, Michigan State University; Wolfgang Bauer, Michigan State University; Daina Briedis, Michigan State University; Neeraj Buch, Michigan State University; Nathaniel Ehrlich, Michigan State University; John Courtney, Michigan State University; Ruth Heckman, Lansing Community College; Denise Fleming, Michigan State University; Louise Paquette, Lansing Community College; Renee Mickelson, Lansing Community College; Mark Urban-Lurain; Clifford Weil, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

US undergraduate education in science, mathematics,engineering, and technology. Science Education 2002, 86 (1), 79-105.9. Seymour, E., Testimony offered by Elaine Seymour, Hearing on Undergraduate Science, Math andEngineering Education: What’s Working?, Research Subcommittee of the Committee on Science. Washington, DC.2006.10. Bransford, J. D.; Brown, A. L.; Cocking, R. R., How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School.Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences andEducation, National Academy Press: Washington, D.C., 1999.11. Keller, J. M., Motivational design of instruction. In Instructional-design theories and models: An overviewof their current status

Conference Session

Assessment and Curriculum Development

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Godfrey, University of Auckland; Rosalind Archer, University of Auckland; Paul Denny, University of Auckland; Margaret Hyland, University of Auckland; Chris Smaill, University of Auckland; Karl Stol, University of Auckland

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

test projects. An increase in cohort size from 270 in 1996 to the current600, has challenged both infrastructure and human resources, necessitating compromises indelivery and assessment techniques from time to time. Although teaching staff are drawnfrom the Civil and Mechanical Engineering departments, a priority is to emphasize that theDesign process is an intrinsic part of engineering thinking and doing, in all specializations.Consequently, when designing projects, staff are mindful that this introductory course mustengage students who intend to major in the full range of engineering specializations.Most of the course has been taught using a problem-based, small-group approach, with thedesign-and-build projects being the highlight of the

Conference Session

Projects and Problems in First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Senay Purzer, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

; Sadler, T.D. (2007). Interactive patterns and conceptual convergence during student collaborations in science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(5), 634-658.Smith, K.A., Sheppard, S.D., Johnson, D.W., and Johnson, R.T. (2005). Pedagogies of Engagement: Classroom- based Practices. Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), 87-101.Tonso, K.L. (2007). On teh outskirts of engineering: Learning identity, gender, and power via engineering practice. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Yaşar-Purzer, Ş., Baker. D., Roberts, C., and Krause, S. (June, 2008). Development of A Team Interaction

Conference Session

Goal Specific First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Srikanth Tadepalli, University of Texas, Austin; Mitchell Pryor; Cameron Booth, University of Texas, Austin

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

AC 2009-2077: CUSTOMIZED INSTRUCTION IN A WEB-BASED, FIRST-YEARCLASS: MAINTAINING PRESENCE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSITIONUSING CONTENT-MANAGEMENT TOOLSSrikanth Tadepalli, University of Texas, Austin Srikanth Tadepalli is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas. After recieving his BS in Mechanical Engineering from India, he moved to UT where obtained his MSE in Manufacturing Systems Engineering specializing in Design for Manufacturing. He has worked as a Teaching Assistant and as an Assistant Instructor for the Computers and Programming course over a period of 3 years at The University of Texas at Austin and was awarded "The H. Grady Rylander Longhorn Mechanical