commercialize residential scale waste-to-energy biomass processor systems. Page 24.613.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2014 First-Year Student Persistence and Retention Influenced by Early Exposure to Engineering Practitioners Co-Teaching Entry-Level Courses: A Four-Year Indirect AssessmentAbstractThe engineering education literature lacks long-term studies on persistence and retention impactsrealized by teaching first-year engineering students about possible post-graduate career optionsvia exposure to practicing engineers. At the University of North Texas (UNT
exposure to engineering design and createrealistic expectations for a major and a career in engineering.Introduction Within the College of Engineering at the University of Utah, there are eight majorsoffered. While the retention rate of students in the program has not been low, there are barriersin place that do not allow for an easy transition between departments. Furthermore, otherresearch universities across the US have implemented first-year engineering courses to helpstudents gain a better understanding of engineering and design at an earlier point in theiracademic programs.1-9 These universities have reported higher retention rates because not onlyhave students gained more realistic expectations of engineering, but they have also
andmaking presentations, all while working as a part of a team. This project was designed to meetmany of the course objectives as well as to develop skills that will be needed in many of theirfuture engineering classes.This paper presents an overview of the project and individual assignments as well as theoutcomes and feedback from the students that participated in the project. The plans for furthermodifications and improvements to this project and assignments will also be presented.IntroductionThe Introduction to Engineering course at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) is a one creditcourse that is designed to be an introduction to engineering as a career. It discusses the majorfields of engineering and the typical responsibilities of an
Assessment (i2e2a). She ob- tained a B.S. in mathematics from Spelman College, a M.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Alabama, and a Ph.D. in Leadership and Policy Studies from Peabody College of Vanderbilt Univer- sity. Her teaching interests relate to the professional development of graduate engineering students and to leadership, policy, and change in STEM education. Primary research projects explore the preparation Page 24.302.1 of graduate students for diverse careers and the development of reliable and valid engineering education assessment tools. She is a NSF Faculty Early Career (CAREER
, mechanics, computational tools and international product design as well as graduate-level courses in engineering innovation and technology management. He has conducted research in the areas of environmentally-responsible manu- facturing, globally-distributed engineering teaming and early engineering education development and has over 30 years of combined academic and industrial management experience. He received his BSME and MSME degrees from Michigan Technological University.Dr. S. Patrick Walton, Michigan State University S. Patrick Walton received his B.ChE. from Georgia Tech, where he began his biomedical research career in the Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. He then attended MIT where he earned his M.S
enrollment began their college careers outside engineering.1Many programs have been put in place to recruit students into engineering fromunderrepresented groups,2,3 but fewer programs exist to recruit from among students alreadyenrolled in universities and the nature of the engineering curriculum makes it difficult for manystudents to switch into engineering once they have chosen a different academic pathway.Most people who apply to colleges of engineering “always wanted” to be engineers or at leastthey had decided by the time they were seniors in high school that engineering was going to betheir career path. Many identify as being “good at math and science” and therefore engineeringmade sense to them.4 Others like to build things or got involved
by a team of 4-6 students.Seven credit hours incorporate fundamental, practical and computational principles ofnanotechnology into the curriculum. This will allow the TLC to build the following professionalattributes: • Ability to work productively in a collaborative setting. • Knowledge of successful careers in the nanotechnology area to fill the future needs of industry. Students pursuing this track are equipped with key elements needed in industry, including computer modeling and simulation, laboratory experience, and design methodologies. • Ability to do scientific research and engage in discovery and scholarship. • Develop strong professional attributes, including ethical behavior in the workplace
the freshmanand sophomore level can help increase retention rates for engineering students and help studentsbetter appreciate what engineers actually do. These courses and experiences can also form acornerstone for the students’ learning and motivate students to learn engineering analysistechniques.Because of widespread inaccuracies about what engineers do,1 one of the learning goals of manyfirst-year engineering courses is to clarify the perception of the engineering profession in theeyes of students. In theory, students can then identify themselves as engineers and thus makeconfident, informed decisions regarding their career path in one of the engineering disciplines.This increased confidence leads to better academic performance and
, Learning Outcomes, Project-based Learning (PBL).1. IntroductionThe role of introductory courses in engineering is commonly acknowledged to be extremelyimportant for student engagement as well as retention.4 The introductory courses in engineeringgenerally serve the purpose of raising student awareness about engineering careers and theengineering curriculum while trying to excite and motivate them by using hands-on activities,projects, etc. The core learning objectives of the introductory courses involve activities thatentail application and understanding rather than higher level cognitive outcomes involving Page 24.854.2design and analysis. An
incorporating one ormore community-based engineering projects as the core theme of the course. Service learning is 3of vital importance in the engineering profession and must be integrated into the engineeringcurriculum at an early stage of career development. Engineering projects with aspects of servicelearning are both challenging and motivating to students entering the engineering profession afterSTEM studies at the high school level. In addition to teaching the students engineering design 4and practice in the context of society and values, and instilling the recognition of engineeringissues and concerns, engineering project activity with service learning components
differentactivities, some reported participating in as many as nine different pre-college engineeringprograms or activities.BackgroundThe National Academy of Engineering report Engineering in K-12 Education – Understandingthe Status and Improving the Prospects1 identifies five main benefits of K-12 engineeringeducation. These are 1) improved learning and achievement in science and mathematics, 2)increased awareness of engineering and the work of engineers, 3) understanding of and theability to do engineering design, 4) interest in pursuing engineering as a career, and 5) increasedtechnological literacy. This study focuses on pursuing engineering as a career, which typicallyrequires a 4-year college degree in engineering. While the other benefits of K-12
’ abilities but challenge them to reach for the top of that range” and 3. “Make connections to students’ interests and intended careers.”4In addition to key preparation for engineering practice, these three practices are also key formotivating students and preparing them for the rigors of studying engineering.The project described in this paper is designed to utilize these three approaches. The topic ofenergy harvesting from ambient renewable sources is very contemporary and of interest to mostbeginning engineering students. The hands on nature of the project and use of LEGO®s are alsoappealing to students. The project is conducted over six weeks using both in and out of classactivities. The diversity of topics, activities and settings utilized in
pieces are most effective in influencing,inspiring, and/or guiding our students into their particular pathways of engineering.At NU, the first-year engineering curriculum is fundamentally common for all majors andstudents take an Engineering Design course and a Problem Solving and Computation course in atwo-semester sequence. There is pressure for these two introductory engineering courses toaccomplish a myriad of things alongside content delivery, such as prepare students for thedemands of college, expose them to the engineering majors, provide relevant hands-on and real-world projects, develop algorithmic and critical thinking skills, and get them excited about theirengineering career path. There are a number and variety of projects
larger fraction of the cohort graduate in 4years or less (Mann-Whitney test, p < 0.008).Whether students chose to co-op or not could affect this data. The student records were examined tosee how often they reported being on co-op. While this is the only way to get an idea of thispotential effect so many years after the fact, it is not a completely reliable measure, as students whofind co-op opportunities without using the college’s career services office do not always fill out thepaperwork to inform the university. Roughly twenty-five percent of each group reported at least oneco-op experience. The honors students had slightly more terms on co-op than the standard students,but it was not a significant difference
engineeringand mechanical and materials engineering. LabVIEW™ and the LEGO MINDSTORMS®platform were selected as the tools for the program. LabVIEW is an especially useful tool,which engineering students repeatedly encounter during their undergraduate careers. LEGOMindstorms give students an intuitive approach to programming, with immediate, visual results.As a result of strong teaming experiences in the workshops, the students work more effectivelyand collaboratively in their coursework. The students also interact one-on-one withundergraduate and graduate engineering students who exhibit enthusiasm for engineering. Theserelationships continue into the academic year, providing a support community for the newstudents
and guest speakersfrom industry presented information on leadership and professionalism. Program directorspresented on topics including public speaking and presentation skills, managing a person’sdigital presence, and resume writing. Guest speakers from industry shared their academic andprofessional experiences and were some of the most popular presentations. Topics of guestspeakers included an introduction to intellectual property law, on being an entrepreneur in thetechnology industry, and looking back at a 20+ year career of being a female professionalengineer. Each semester’s seminar series included a common reading experience and discussion.These readings and discussions were a bridge that took students from learning about a facet
Environment. She began her career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, after having obtained her PhD in 2007 from the University of Illinois at Chicago under the supervision of Dr. Thomas L. Theis. Dr. Landis’ research focuses on Sustainable Renewable Biomaterials and she is highly engaged in Inno- vations in Engineering Education. Learn more at http://faculty.engineering.asu.edu/landis/ Page 24.717.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2014 Improving learning productivity and teamwork skills in freshman engineering students through conative
nature of these projects, where all students from a projectgroup had the same evidence available to use in their ePortfolio at the time of the reflection.Reflective assignments that focused on out of classroom events had more distinguishablemarkers for retention. We believe these assignments contained better markers due to thereflection requirements. For the Engineering Exploration assignments, students were asked toinclude personalized reasons for attending events and the growth they experienced because of it.These types of reflections led more naturally to student responses that included their doubts,interests, and career aspirations.With many universities experiencing a rise in class sizes, reading multiple reflections from everystudent in a
the importance of It is important to incorporate societaldevelopment: including social aspects in the engineering constraints into engineering decisions.36analyze process, including community feedback, a broad range of stakeholders, etc.Professional The responsibility or obligation that an It is important to use my engineeringconnectedness engineer or the engineering profession may abilities to provide a useful service to the have to help solve social problems or help community. othersCosts/benefits A recognition of the costs and benefits I would be willing to have a career that associated with engaging in
teaching by1 Fall 2012 program in an urban 6 – 8th th 24 (Roxbury, MA) engineering students community near NU graders with careers/majors Lego Textrix & Lego Written STEM Latino STEM Alliance NXT Mindstorm
, students end up believing that engineering courses will besimilar to the mathematics and science courses and ultimately leave for other fields whereapplications can be seen much earlier in their academic career.5Ironically, it is performance in these introductory courses, specifically calculus, which is one ofthe primary determinants of success in engineering.6 Internal data collected by the Department ofEngineering Education at the University of Cincinnati shows that students who receive a grade ofC or lower in their first calculus class have virtually no chance of completing an engineeringdegree, whereas students who receive a C+ or better successfully complete a degree inengineering at a rate of approximately 75
students. The course provides career and technicalinformation on the four engineering disciplines offered at Quinnipiac University. The followingfour questions are investigated: Is there a correlation between a student’s initial desire to pursuea specific engineering major and their actual and perceived knowledge of that engineeringdiscipline? For those students who are interested in and knowledgeable about a specificengineering discipline, does the introductory course strengthen that interest? For those studentswho are unsure about what specific engineering discipline to choose, are the students more likelyto be interested in a specific engineering discipline at the end of the course? Does theintroductory course increase students’ knowledge
peers which is critical to student success incompleting an engineering degree.IntroductionImproving opportunities for higher education for low-income, minority, and urban studentsremains a critical issue in engineering education1, increasing the access to engineeringeducational opportunities of these key populations will have a significant impact on balancingthe shortage of qualified engineers in the U.S. which is important for global competitiveness.Further, engineering educators are tasked with changing traditional ways of educating engineersand broadening the exposure of K-12 students to engineering careers, requirements, andopportunities 2. With the wide range of research citing the need to transform traditional lecture
early in theiracademic careers, report increase motivation to remain in engineering. The challenge ofengaging students as early as their first year is that students can become overwhelmed. Whilethe experience can be very positive, when students are adjusting to college life and course loads,the additional variable of an experiential learning environment can be foreign and sometimes Page 24.782.4overwhelming. In addition, while the vertical integration allows mentoring of younger students,older students do not always embrace the mentoring roles. The results have been bimodal withfirst-year students in the program having either very positive or
information literacy, medialiteracy, and information, communications and technology literacy), and Life and Career Skills(such as flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cross-cultural skills,productivity and accountability, leadership and responsibility) as proposed by the Partnership for21st Century Skills.15-17This paper describes in detail how a second semester cornerstone (and pillar) course(Introduction to Chemical, Food, and Environmental Engineering Design) for CE, FE, and EE ishelping students to develop their creativity, as well as its alignment with the Investment Theoryof Creativity developed by Sternberg and Lubart.5-8 As stated previously, ITC comprises sixresources for creativity: intellectual processes
, graphics, and communication. These oversights may have caused the students to question the relevance of the teamwork activities to their design project, in turn, leading them to label the exercises as “busy work” (a term they use all too readily for many of the assignments in DTC, even those that they come to value later in their undergraduate career). The syllabus also did not explicitly list how the teamwork assignments would be weighted in the final course grade. While they were included as part of the student’s “individual grade,” this only comprised 10% of the final grade, of which, the teamwork assessments were only a small part.2) Adding eight additional exercises to an already crowded curriculum was a mistake. The principal
Paper ID #9195Management and Assessment of a Successful Peer Mentor Program for In-creasing Freshmen RetentionMr. Jeff Johnson, LeTourneau University Jeff Johnson is an Instructor at LeTourneau University. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology from LeTourneau in 1994 then proceeded to spend 16 years in industry focusing on machine and civil design as well as project management. In 2010 he began his teaching career at his alma mater to share his experiences with engineering and technology students. He is currently a co-PI on the schools NSF-STEP retention grant.Prof. Alan D. Niemi, LeTourneau University
Recruiting and Retention Program thatIncreased Undergraduate Enrollment Over 60% in Four Years, ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Atlanta,GA, Paper 7881.9. Veenstra, C. and Herrin, G.D., (2009). Does a Survey Course on Engineering Careers Improve First-YearEngineering Retention?, ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Austin, TX, AC 2009-104.10. Anderson-Rowland, M.R., (1998). The Effect of Course Sequence on the Retention of Freshman EngineeringStudents: When Should the Intro Engineering Course be Offered?, 28th Annual Frontiers in Education Conference,Tempe, AZ, pp. 252-257.11. Ochoa, H.R. and Shirvaikar, M., (2013). An Update: The Engagement and Retention of Electrical EngineeringStudents with a First Semester Freshman Experience Course
cultivate, as itis a fundamental element of a successful engineering career.60,61 Lastly, engineers mustdemonstrate their depth of knowledge by communicating their ideas and design decisions to theirrelative audience.Communication of ideas and professional skilldevelopment: The philosophies of EngineeringEducation began to grow and drasticallytransform in the mid 1990’s, valuing a morewholesome engineer. Surely the focus continuesto include the traditional solidly rooted STEMskills, but also includes professionaldevelopment skills such as: communication,teamwork, global and ethical awareness, andskills for life-long learning.12 In addition tolearning the foundations of design, helping futureengineers master such professional skills as teamwork
haspreviously used, it is important to evaluate its effectiveness. To do this, the department initiallyplanned to enlist the aid of external evaluators to conduct a formal assessment. Howeveranticipated funding to support this effort did not materialize, so a rigorous evaluation has not yetbeen performed. Additionally, the desire to draw any clear conclusions regarding itseffectiveness is also hampered by the small sample size. To date, only four cohorts – a total of84 students including those who are currently enrolled – have taken this class. And since thestudents from the first cohort have yet to graduate, the full impact of this pedagogy on theiracademic careers is just now being assessed. More data must be collected and a morecomprehensive