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

taught at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She has been with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi since fall of 2005. Dr. Mehrubeoglu's areas of research include machine vision and image processing applications (digital watermarking, degraded fingerprint recognition, object detection and tracking), applications in biomedical engineering, and effective teaching pedagogies. Page 14.44.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 A Lego Robot Project Using Concept Maps and Peer-Led Teams for a Freshman Course in Engineering and Engineering TechnologyAbstractIn this paper, the use of concept maps is

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

, Yr 1 45 Participants 80/20% male: female 5 Peer Mentors 22% minority E2 Camp, Yr 2 84 Participants 82/18% male: female 18 Peer Mentors 6% minority ENGR 1050, Yr 1 56/ 3 sections 69/31% male: female 33% minority ENGR 1050, Yr 2 74 74/26% male: female 28% minority ERC, Yr 1 110

Conference Session

Learning as a Community

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Janet Meyer, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; Patrick Gee, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; Laura Masterson, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

received from enrollment in a LC. Most notably, they reportthe following7: 1. Making connections with other students, peer mentors, faculty, and advisors. 2. Academic advising (e.g., knowledgeable, available when needed assistance). 3. Experiencing environment that promotes and respects diversity. 4. Becoming familiar with campus and academic support resources. 5. Deciding on a major or future career. 6. Adjusting to college.As part of “making connections,” LCs also provide a chance for students to create a network atIUPUI since LCs consist of an instructional team of a faculty member, academic advisor,librarian, and peer mentor. Tinto illuminates the importance of student engagement andnetworking on campus, “The frequency and

Conference Session

First-Year Advising and Transition

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles McDowell, University of California, Santa Cruz; Adrienne Harrell, University of California, Santa Cruz

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

primary program staff for ETTP included two student Peer Mentors who are now currentseniors who had transferred into the School of Engineering from a community college. BothPeer Mentors also had participated in our 2006 “Summer Bridge” program, our last effort tocombine transfer and first-year students in the same program. The School of EngineeringOutreach Coordinator/Transfer Advisor served as the program director, building upon the rapporthe had already established with some of the students during the outreach season and transferadvising sessions.The community building components of ETTP were especially important to address because ofthe structure and nature of our campus. Comprised of several residential colleges, most studentsentering as

Conference Session

Projects and Problems in First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Senay Purzer, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

potential ability whenguided by an adult or more capable peers. In a peer discussion setting, discourse andargumentation can provide learning opportunities within students’ zone of proximal developmentand hence support learning.Findings from Prior ResearchThis paper presents the third stage of a larger study that uses a three-stage sequential mixed-methods approach (qualitative quantitative qualitative). The first and second stagesinvolved the coding of student talk and correlation analyses between self-efficacy, achievement,and discourse type (Yaşar-Purzer, Baker, Roberts, & Krause, 2008). The goal of the third stage isto further investigate and explain what led to the results revealed through the previous stages ofthe study.Results

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

on by Baillie10 in 1998, collated from a survey of over 100 institutions in12 countries, could be viewed as the “combined wisdom about best practice” at that time.She identified six major categories in approaches to first-year engineering programs. These Page 14.736.3were: creating a short introductory course, additional help with one aspect of the course,developing a new or overhauled subject, introducing an entire curriculum change,mentoring/tutoring by staff and peer tutoring. At that time, Baillie identified that the mostcommon way institutions were addressing first-year issues was by the introduction or changeof an existing subject with an

Conference Session

Learning as a Community

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Hinds, Michigan State University; Thomas Wolff, Michigan State University; Neeraj Buch, Michigan State University; Amanda Idema, Michigan State University; Cynthia Helman, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

in the same residence hall community, it is hoped that an academicallysupportive peer group will enhance the overall experience.Such integration does not come easily. A coordinated plan has been developed to join the Page 14.749.3Cornerstone Experience and the Residential Experience to address the challenges encountered bythe development and implementation teams. These issues include facility location andcomposition including design and construction, gender balancing in a residence hall withpredominantly engineering degree program students, segregating engineering students or mixingwith other majors on single residence hall floors, development

Conference Session

Learning as a Community

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sondra Miller, Boise State University; Pat Pyke, Boise State University; Amy Moll, Boise State University; Melissa Wintrow, Boise State University; Cheryl Schrader, Boise State University; Janet Callahan, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

ERC was such thatstudents lived in suites with a shared common meeting space, which facilitated collaborativework and study. Through structured activities outside of the classroom, the FiR facilitatedlearning that enhanced engineering academics (e.g., advising, study groups, tutors), communitybuilding (e.g., informal drop-in coffee nights, rock climbing), and supported the RC programcommon values. Success of these programmatic activities was assessed qualitatively (i.e.,student’s perceptions articulated through reflective writing) and quantitatively (i.e., academicperformance in key freshman engineering courses).Qualitative Life Skills SuccessesTo fully assess the successes of the ERC, we chose to first qualitatively examine the experiencesof

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

requirement for the First Year Success sections) prior tosubmitting their final report. UMBC also has a Writing Center located in the Learning ResourceCenter on campus that provides assistance to the students in the preparation of their reports.Each team is also required to make a formal oral presentation using PowerPoint at which eachteam member is required to present (the First Year Success sections are also required to give apractice presentation prior to their formal oral presentation with the instructor). Specific Page 14.813.3guidelines for the presentation are discussed in class and the students are also given a gradingrubric for the

Conference Session

Beyond the Engineering Classroom

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew Traum, University of North Texas; Sharon Karackattu, University of North Texas

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

knowledge usedthroughout history, why must modern students earn college degrees to become practicingengineers?” “Describe the engineering job that is of most interest to you. Explain why this job is of interest.”Short essay assignments were graded on a scale of 0 to 10; students were given the grading rubric inadvance, and they knew the grading scheme. Zero to one point was awarded for submittingassignments on time with proper headers, identifications, and word counts. Zero to three pointswere awarded for use of college-level writing; zero to three points were awarded on the basis ofhow well essays summarized what the speaker said; and zero to three points were awarded on thebasis of how well students responded to the prompt. On writing skill

Conference Session

Exploring Retention

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeong Hwan Choi, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Jacob Marszalek, University of Missouri, Kansas City; Joyce Lee, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Susan Linnemeyer, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

support services to increase the retention of first-year engineeringstudents 7, 9. In addition, particular high attrition rate of underrepresented groups in engineering,e.g., female and minorities demand the exploration of alternative support options in transition 10,11 . In the transition process of their first year at college of engineering, new engineering studentsare influenced by academic performance (GPA), social interactions with peers and faculties aswell as family, support programs, pre-college characteristics, innate personalities, and perceptiontoward engineering. 7, 10-15.The purpose of this study is to identify and understand the effects of support programs toacademic performance and retention in the first year. The study also

Conference Session

Assessment and Curriculum Development

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Hall, Louisiana Tech University; Stan Cronk, Louisiana Tech University; James Nelson, Louisiana Tech University; Patricia Brackin, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

systems (A1) 21. apply engineering economics to solve time value of money problems (A1) COMMUNICATION: 22. utilize the specified engineering problem solving approach when completing assignments (A1,A4) 23. properly present technical information in tables and graphs (A4) 24. communicate the results of investigations and projects both orally and in writing (A4) 25. assess potential impacts of selected global and societal forces on our planet and its inhabitants (A5,A6,A7) 26. regularly attend professional society meetings and other student-led functions (A7,A8,A9) 27. work individually and collaboratively to complete course assignments (A4,A8) 28. apply creative problem solving techniques for product design (A3) 29

Conference Session

First-Year Advising and Transition

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

school student such as doing chores around the house and yard,cutting into study time.The reality that things are different for a freshman engineering student may first occur for thosein an Honors College. Honors Students may be enrolled in a “Human Events” class and assigned300-500 page books to be read and discussed in rapid order. This interesting, but timeconsuming, exercise soon competes with keeping up in Calculus, Chemistry, or maybe Physics.An English class may also require a lot of reading and writing time. In comparing theiracademic load with other majors in Honors, the student soon learns that there is a disparity. Tolearn the material in their classes takes much more time than most other majors. The courses are