Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Monday Cornucopia (Classroom Innovations)

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joshua L. Hertz, Northeastern University; Duncan Davis, Northeastern University; Brian Patrick O'Connell, Northeastern University; Constantine Mukasa, Northeastern University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Paper ID #26537gruepr: An Open Source Program for Creating Student Project TeamsDr. Joshua L. Hertz, Northeastern University Dr. Hertz earned a B.S. in Ceramic Engineering from Alfred University in 1999 and then a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006. Following this, he worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology as a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow. He joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Delaware as an Assistant Professor in September 2008, leading a lab that researched the effects of composition

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Design in the First Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lorraine Francis, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; David John Orser, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Kia Bazargan, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Susan Mantell, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Joshua M. Feinberg, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Russell J. Holmes, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

education curriculum with a focus on laboratory courses for the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. His courses leverage project-based learning, experiential learning, and self-paced activities. David has over ten years of industry experience specializing in mixed-signal RF integrated circuit design, power systems, and power electronics.Prof. Kia Bazargan, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Prof. Kia Bazargan is an Associate Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Has has published over 70 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters related to FPGAs and VLSI computer-aided design. He received his Bachelors degree

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Wednesday Cornucopia (Educational Research)

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kaylee A. Dunnigan, NYU Tandon School of Engineering; Jack Bringardner, NYU Tandon School of Engineering; Gunter W. Georgi, NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Paper ID #26910From Pre-Defined to Open-Ended Projects: Evaluating First-Year Ability toInnovate and Problem SolveKaylee A. Dunnigan, NYU Tandon School of Engineering Kaylee Dunnigan is a third-year undergraduate student working towards her B.S. in Chemical and Biomolec- ular Engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. She is the deputy head of research and development for the Introduction to Engineering and Design at Tandon. She helps develop semester long design projects for students, hands-on labs, as well as mentor students throughout these projects. She has worked previously at Sandia National Labs Advanced

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Professional Skill Development

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Alan Degenhardt, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Brian S. Woodard, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Paper ID #26486Applying Project-based Learning with an Emphasis on Engineering Commu-nication for First-Year StudentsDavid Alan Degenhardt, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign David Degenhardt is currently pursuing a master’s degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois. His work focuses on improving introduction-level classes for aerospace students. In August 2018 he was awarded the Aerospace Engineering Graduate Teaching Assistant Fellowship by the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois, under the supervision of Dr. Brian Woodard.Dr. Brian S. Woodard, University of Illinois

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Engineering in the First-Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven P. Marra, Johns Hopkins University; Jenna Adele Frye, Maryland Institute College of Art; Edon Muhaxheri, Maryland Institute College of Art; Laure Drogoul, Maryland Institute College of Art

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs, Multidisciplinary Engineering

is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and cobbler of situations who lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Laure works with a wide range of media including projects in which she creates sculpture, performance, and theatrical events that invite the viewer to be an active participant. She has exhibited widely, including The International House of Japan in Tokyo, Corcoran Gallery of Art,Washington Project for the Arts, The Walters Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, and The Center for Architecture in New York as well as many street corners, alleys, and underutilized urban spaces.She has received Maryland State Artist Awards and a Franklin Furnace Award for performance art and has been a recipient of a US/Japan Creative

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Engineering in the First-Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Huihui H Wang, Jacksonville University; Festus Ogbaisi, Jacksonville University; Martins Slaboh, Jacksonville University; Emre Selvi, Jacksonville University; Maria Javaid, Jacksonville University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs, Multidisciplinary Engineering

department, we have more students in ME thanin EE. However, it is imperative for all students to have the basics of EE in order to work on therobotic projects. In this case, we mix students from two programs together in the engineeringorientation course. “What topics should be covered in this course?” is always a question and achallenge for the instructors. After 3-year practices and continuous improvements, we decide tocover not only the basics of ME and EE but also diverse soft skills trainings especially theproject management trainings. Three teaching assistants (two juniors from EE and one juniorfrom ME) are assisting a professor in the lab sections. This paper studies the outcomes of severalactivities such as the ethics debates, self-identities

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Work in Progress Postcard Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenahvive K. Morgan, Michigan State University; Roya Solhmirzaei, Michigan State University; Hadi Salehi, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

involve their experience with writing and programming, as well astheir university schedule and location. Based on the responses from these questions, each pair ofstudents are matched with another pair of students with complementary skills. Another uniquecharacteristic of this course involves students having the ability to change teams after the firstdesign project. Students may desire to change teams if they feel that the rest of their team isunderperforming, or if they feel that the other students on their team are overly demanding.These practices are informed by the above studies to encourage students to develop moredependent learning styles.A self-reporting measure of team performance was given to first-year engineering students toexamine

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Mathematics in the First Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cem Karacal, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville; Ma Zenia N. Agustin, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville; George Pelekanos, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs, Mathematics

, Mathematics & Statistics Department2 1 Edwardsville, IL 62026AbstractThis Evidence-based practice complete paper describes the experiences with a holisticMathematics Enrichment Sessions, Freshmen Mentoring, Mathematics Tutoring and newFreshmen Engineering course that are implemented during the last five years at Southern IllinoisUniversity Edwardsville as part of our NSF STEP project. The mathematics Enrichment Session(ES) idea, which is a combination of the best aspects of Supplemental Instruction idea andPeerLed Team Learning methods, can be an effective way of supporting students in their firstyear of studies. The implementation of the peer-mentoring program that was

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Design in the First Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Asma Idries, North Carolina State University; Akira Angel Romero-Berube, North Carolina State University ; Rachel Lee Tilly, North Carolina State University; Laura Bottomley, North Carolina State University; Raegan Santana Reeves, North Carolina State University; Miles Xavier Davis

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

alternate resources or more efficient forms of oil.Mr. Miles Xavier Davis c American Society for Engineering Education, 2019 Supporting First-Year Students with an Extracurricular Resource—Complete Evidence-based PracticeAbstract This study aims to assess the impact of an extracurricular student resource on a designbased first-year engineering project experience. The extracurricular resource is referred to as the“resource room” and serves as the material headquarters for the College of Engineering outreachprograms at NC State University. The room provides tools, materials, workspace, and mentorshipto first-year engineering students for the First-year Engineering Design Day (FEDD) projects

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Monday Cornucopia (Classroom Innovations)

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Duncan Davis, Northeastern University; Jimmy Gitming Lee, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Paper ID #26516Building Escape Rooms to Increase Student Engagement in First-Year Engi-neering ClassesProf. Duncan Davis, Northeastern University Duncan Davis is an Assistant Teaching Professor in First Year Engineering. His research focuses on using gamification to convey course content in first year classes. Mostly recently, he has implemented a series of escape room projects to teach engineering to first year students through the process of designing, prototyping, and refining these play experiences.Jimmy Gitming Lee, Northeastern University c American Society for Engineering Education, 2019

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Integrating Computing into the First Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Djedjiga Belfadel, Fairfield University; Marcia Arambulo Rodriguez, Fairfield University; Michael Zabinski, Fairfield University; Ryan Munden, Fairfield University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

. Project-based courses attempt to resolve the tension betweenproviding training in the fundamentals of engineering and problem solving by motivating and engagingstudents. Active learning in first year engineering courses is believed to improve retention and appeal toa diverse population of students [1].We report on a two-year study using the Arduino platform to build a series of projects. We have usedArduino platform projects in two-course instances and present survey results describing studentresponses to learning with Arduino. 1. Introduction Multiple active learning projects and hands-on activities are incorporated in the Fundamentals ofEngineering course. This course is a required course for first-semester engineering students in

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Engineering in the First-Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Haolin Zhu, Arizona State University; David Jacob Taylor, Arizona State University; Ian Derk

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs, Multidisciplinary Engineering

recipient of the Fulton Outstanding Lecturer Award. She focuses on designing the curriculum and teaching in the freshman engineering program. She is also involved in the NAE Grand Challenge Scholars Program, the ASU ProMod project, the Engi- neering Projects in Community Service program, the Engineering Futures program, the Global Freshman Academy, and the ASU Kern Project. Dr. Zhu also designs and teaches courses in mechanical engineer- ing at ASU, including Mechanics of Materials, Mechanical Design, Mechanism Analysis and Design, Finite Element Analysis, etc. She was part of a team that designed a largely team and activity based online Introduction to Engineering course, as well as a team that developed a unique MOOC

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Monday Cornucopia (Classroom Innovations)

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenn Stroud Rossmann, Lafayette College; Hannah Stewart-Gambino, Lafayette College

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

require Grand Challenges Scholars to work ininterdisciplinary teams. To foster such collaboration and lay a foundation bridgingengineering and the liberal arts, we developed a linked pair of first-year-seminars addressinga “grand challenge.” Building on the WPI Great Problems model [2], these two First YearSeminars are team taught by a mechanical engineer and a political scientist, each addressingthe problem of global hunger. Students from both sections work together in project teams andparticipate in discussions of course topics and shared readings. The course includes acommunity-based learning component as well as the development of a research &development plan for future engagement.Table 1. The 14 Grand Challenges issued by the National

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Integrating Computing into the First Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Oziel Rios, University of Texas, Dallas; Dani Fadda, University of Texas, Dallas

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

computer simulations in this class in a team-baseddesign approach. Past work has shown that incorporating team-based design projects into first-year engineering courses is beneficial since it increases motivation and improves retention [1-3].In this work, a computer simulation is defined as a program that accepts inputs and performscalculations based on a mathematical model of a system with the intent of understanding thebehavior of said system [4-5]. In our freshman-level course, students used SolidWorks three-dimensional (3D) CAD software to simulate kinematic motion, structural integrity, fluid flowand heat transfer processes (conduction and convection). These types of computer simulationsare often introduced in courses taken later in a typical

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Work in Progress Postcard Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Goli Nossoni, University of New Haven; Jean Nocito-Gobel, University of New Haven; Ronald S. Harichandran, University of New Haven

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

the Universityof New Haven is a project-based learning course that includes four projects. Each projectemphasizes a different engineering field while also addressing technical communication,sustainability, entrepreneurship and creativity. Correlations between students’ personality typesand different aspects of engineering such as visualization, sustainability, entrepreneurship,communication and traditional technical engineering are presented. The results of the study maybe useful for improving recruitment and retention practices as more diverse students enterengineering fields.Research Questions and Potential ValueThe following research questions are explored in this work in progress: 1. Do today’s engineering students display the same

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Monday Cornucopia (Classroom Innovations)

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian Scott Robinson, University of Louisville; Nicholas Hawkins, University of Louisville; James E. Lewis, University of Louisville; James Christopher Foreman, University of Louisville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

this interactivecourse, which introduces students to fundamental engineering skills – including teamwork,design, project management, technical writing, critical thinking, programming, communication(including written, oral, and graphical), and an introduction to engineering research. The courseincludes extensive introductory design pedagogy coupled with project management; includingtwo individual design challenges during the semester, and culminating in a team-basedCornerstone project that all students present at the end of the semester. For conveying keyinstructional topics to the students, a few select classes are held in the EG classroom(s), whileadditional instruction is delivered online via supplementary, instructor-created videos

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Professional Skill Development

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Leila Keyvani, Northeastern University; Kathryn Schulte Grahame, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

University. She teaches the Cornerstone of Engineering courses to first- year students as well as courses within the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. She is a recent recipient of the Outstanding Teacher of First-Year Students Award and is interested in research that compliments and informs her teaching. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2019 Preparing First Year Engineering Students for a Career where Communication Skills MatterAbstractThis complete evidence-based practice paper describes the techniques used in the project basedfirst-year Cornerstone of Engineering courses at Northeastern University to address the need forbuilding communication

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Design in the First Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pamela L. Dickrell, University of Florida; Lilianny Virguez, University of Florida

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

helpalongside an engineering faculty member and for open build time (currently all day Fridays),where individual students or student teams can come into the makerspace for peer assisted helpwith any aspect of their projects.3) Human-Centered Design & Societal Needs: Utilizing human-centered design for societalneeds was chosen to engage first-year students through the impact engineering can make to helpsociety. The goal was to engage and excite students by bringing them into being part of thesolution for designing and prototyping for the purpose of helping humanity. The 7-step human-centered design process shown in Figure 2 was created for the Engineering Design & Societycourse [1] to support both integration of human centered design and cover

Conference Session

Bridge Programs Connecting to First-Year Engineering

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kuldeep S. Rawat, Elizabeth City State University; Robin Renee Mangham, Elizabeth City State University; Orestes Devino Gooden, Elizabeth City State University; Elton L. Stone, Elizabeth City State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs, Pre-College Engineering Education

and evaluation of an engineering design-themed SummerAcademy program geared towards exposing high school students, especiallyunderrepresented and underserved groups, to science, technology, engineering, andmathematics (STEM) fields and careers. The goals of the engineering design activities wereto (i) improve students’ competence in science and engineering, (ii) nurture students’enthusiasm for science and engineering, and (iii) create student interest in research or otherscience and engineering-related careers. The program targeted rural counties surroundingproject site and served eighty-one (81) students who received thirty-six (36) hours of hands-on STEM learning experience. Project evaluation data was gathered through StudentFeedback

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Design in the First Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jonathan Elliot Gaines, University of South Florida

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

may be a useful means to introduce valuable engineering skills. Aservice-learning course structure developed to achieve engineering skill development ispresented along with course evaluation data from the first semester of its implementation.A problem-based course model [2] is used to demonstrate service-learning’s potential. Courseoutcomes aim to provide project management and engineering skills. An evaluation wascompleted using an adapted form of Gelmon et al. [3] pre- and post- test service-learning surveyto better understand student perceptions of the course on 1. Engineering skills, 2. Learning, 3.Aspirations, and 4. Social responsibility. The data suggests that students who completed boththe pre- and post- surveys thought the course was

Conference Session

The Best of First Year Programs: Best Paper Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joshua L. Hertz, Northeastern University; Noah Daviero, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

required, 4 credit-hour, first-yearengineering course at a medium-sized, private university. Course learning outcomes includedtopics in design and intellectual property, among a range of other foundational areas.Coursework included a major team-based, design-and-build project. This project had a slightlycompetitive aspect in that bonus points were awarded to the team that built the best project.Three years ago, one of the authors conceived and implemented a “class patent” system wherebyteams could write and submit an application to patent a project idea. By patenting an idea, a teamcould hope to gain competitive advantage in achieving the best project. As a pedagogical study, we sought to determine the effects of the class patent system

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Engineering in the First-Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kleio Avrithi P.E., Mercer University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs, Multidisciplinary Engineering

. Studentsurveys conducted at two different institutions show why students select to become engineers andtheir preference for the different course components.Introduction “Introduction to Engineering” is a core course given to freshmen students of all engineeringdisciplines. The course aims to familiarize students with the engineering profession, the differentengineering disciplines, the design process for exploratory projects, the work in interdisciplinaryteams, the ethics and professional behavior, the lifelong learning, the written and oral presentationof technical concepts, and problem solving. As curriculum often changes, an online research wasconducted on the most current catalogs (2018-2019) of 182 higher education institutions offeringdegrees in

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Professional Skill Development

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

María del Carmen Garcia-Higuera, Universidad Panamericana; Rocio Chavez-Telleria, Universidad Panamericana; Armando Alemán-Juárez, Universidad Panamericana ; Isabel Joaquina Niembro García P.E., Universidad Panamericana

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

administration and human resource development from Texas A&M University. Her research interests include underrepresented populations in higher education, cultural practices and teaching and their impact on education for Hispanic students, women and minorities in engineering.Miss Rocio Chavez-Telleria, Universidad Panamericana Special Projects and Planning Specialist at the Center for Innovation in Education at Universidad Panamer- icana. Responsible for enhancing teaching talent and innovation among faculty through advisory for in- novation projects design and implementation at different levels: one-on-one with professors, academies, schools and campus. Education advisor for Qualitas of Life Foundation, a non-profit

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Focusing on Student Success

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Qudsia Tahmina, Ohio State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

and the overallgrade of the student which serves as a factor to determine student’s success in a classroom.First year engineering curriculum includes two semester course sequence: Fundamentals ofEngineering I (offered in the first semester) and Fundamentals of Engineering II (offered in thesecond semester). Data is presented from the first semester course offered at the regional campusof a large, research institution. Fundamentals of Engineering I course include the followingsections as three main components of the coursework. a) Introduction to data analysis tool suchas Microsoft Excel, b) Computer programming in MATLAB, and c) Design project. Teamworkand collaboration are heavily weighted for the assessment of student performance in the

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Design in the First Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lilianny Virguez, University of Florida; Pamela L. Dickrell, University of Florida

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

the course are: 1. Understand and practice the human-centered engineering design process for a societal based project 2. Learn techniques to solve open-ended engineering challenges 3. Promote a culture of making by introducing solid modeling, programming, sensors, data acquisition, 3D printing, and other maker tools 4. Build teamwork and cooperative learning skills through participation in multidisciplinary teams and active engineering project management 5. Build professional skills in background research and written, pictorial, and oral communication methods 6. Raise awareness of ethics and contemporary issues in engineering design related to a global society 7. Introduce engineering students to the

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Work in Progress Postcard Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Campbell, Imperial College London; Deesha Chadha, Imperial College London

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

in Chemical Engineering - Can We Bolt-It On? James Campbell, Deesha Chadha* Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK. E-mail:d.chadha@imperial.ac.uk; Tel: +44 20 7594 8958IntroductionIn a Chemical Engineering degree programme, teaching the core technical concepts takecentre stage, but in order to produce graduates that are prepared for a career in ChemicalEngineering, degree courses need to develop so-called transferable skills [1]. Transferableskills, including effective teamwork, communication (both written and verbal), problemsolving and leadership are typically gained via assessments such as group project work andpresentations. Hereby

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Monday Cornucopia (Classroom Innovations)

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kala Meah, York College of Pennsylvania; James Moscola, York College of Pennsylvania; James A. Kearns, York College of Pennsylvania; Eleanor Leung, York College of Pennsylvania; Jason Forsyth, James Madison University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

engineering by providing interesting design projects and fun competitions; • improving the oral and pictorial communication skills of students.Literature ReviewABET criteria for accrediting engineering program requires “a culminating major engineeringdesign experience that 1) incorporates appropriate engineering standards and multiple constraints,and 2) is based on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier course work.” ABET studentoutcomes place an emphasis on teamwork and effective communication [1]. An earlyintroduction to these requirements is achieved through this course, as it is a designed-basedcourse for all engineering students in which they work in a team. Project-based curriculum andactive learning techniques have been

Conference Session

The Best of First Year Programs: Best Paper Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Haolin Zhu, Arizona State University; Tirupalavanam G. Ganesh, Arizona State University; Connor Sonnier, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

the recipient of the Fulton Outstanding Lecturer Award. She focuses on designing the curriculum and teaching in the freshman engineering program. She is also involved in the NAE Grand Challenge Scholars Program, the ASU ProMod project, the Engi- neering Projects in Community Service program, the Engineering Futures program, the Global Freshman Academy, and the ASU Kern Project. Dr. Zhu also designs and teaches courses in mechanical engineer- ing at ASU, including Mechanics of Materials, Mechanical Design, Mechanism Analysis and Design, Finite Element Analysis, etc. She was part of a team that designed a largely team and activity based online Introduction to Engineering course, as well as a team that developed a

Conference Session

Bridge Programs Connecting to First-Year Engineering

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rezvan Nazempour; Houshang Darabi, University of Illinois, Chicago; Peter C. Nelson, University of Illinois, Chicago; Renata A. Revelo, University of Illinois, Chicago; Yeow Siow, University of Illinois, Chicago; Jeremiah Abiade

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs, Pre-College Engineering Education

Standards and Technology.Dr. Peter C. Nelson, University of Illinois, Chicago Peter Nelson was appointed Dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s (UIC) College of Engineer- ing in July of 2008. Prior to assuming his deanship, Professor Nelson was head of the UIC Depart- ment of Computer Science. In 1991, Professor Nelson founded UIC’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, which specializes in applied intelligence systems projects in fields such as transportation, manufacturing, bioinformatics and e-mail spam countermeasures. Professor Nelson has published over 80 scientific peer reviewed papers and has been the principal investigator on over $30 million in research grants and con- tracts on issues of

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Focusing on Student Success

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Teresa Lee Tinnell, University of Louisville; Campbell R. Bego, University of Louisville; Patricia A. Ralston, University of Louisville; Jeffrey Lloyd Hieb, University of Louisville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

), GEARS has investigated factors that contributeto first-year retention as well as the effectiveness of various interventions in the first semester.GEARS follows an interdisciplinary Faculty Learning Community (FLC) structure; membersmeet monthly and review all ongoing projects, develop new projects, and gather interdisciplinaryfeedback. Due to the unique team and meeting structure, GEARS has produced many novelresearch projects. While the GEARS mission of improving engineering student retention andsuccess has not changed over time, the collaboration and sharing of expertise has caused newresearch questions and ways of studying retention to emerge. This paper discusses the progressof our collaboration and highlights the insights of a variety of