Conference Session

FPD IV: Innovative Curriculum Elements of Successful First-year Courses

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robin A.M. Hensel Ed.D., West Virginia University; Ordel Brown Ph.D., West Virginia University; Mary L. Strife, West Virginia University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

andtechnical papers which not only inform their research11,12 but provide high quality examples ofvarious types of technical communication13.The first engineering problem solving course that first-year students take at West VirginiaUniversity, a large land-grant university in the mid-Atlantic region, requires students to write atleast two technical reports. Students, typically, have difficulty with the following: (1)understanding the parts of a technical report; (2) defining and avoiding plagiarism; (3) evaluatingtheir online sources; and (4) finding appropriate sources from which to perform a literaturesearch for background information on their assigned topic.To address these issues, engineering faculty collaborated with campus librarians14,15 to: (1

Conference Session

First-year Programs Poster Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Reap, Virginia Tech; Holly M. Matusovich, Virginia Tech; Rachel A. Louis, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

included items from the MSLQ as wellas demographic information. The posttest included the same questions as the pretest withadditional open-ended questions designed to further explicate impacts of the ChocolateChallenge.ParticipantsAll study participants attend a public university in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.Approximately 244 students in the Chocolate Challenge group and 331 students in thecomparison group received invitations to participate in an online survey at the start of thesemester. Contact lists were generated from the course rosters for each section. The pretestyielded 95 complete, usable responses with 48 in the experimental group and 47 in the controlgroup. The overall pretest response rate was approximately 17

Conference Session

FPD IX: Research on First-year Programs Part III

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robin A.M. Hensel Ed.D., West Virginia University; Todd R. Hamrick Ph.D., West Virginia University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

-orientedapproach addressing only topics relevant to the core engineering courses5; and instituting an“early warning” system with optional “intensive pre-calculus” mid-semester math tracks forstruggling students6,7,8. Many of these approaches have been successful in increasing studentsuccess in calculus and in increasing engineering retention at the specific university in which themethod was implemented. Each university environment has a unique set of characteristics,policies and culture. What works effectively in one university, may not be easily accomplishedor as effective in another. Page 25.334.2The mathematics department at West Virginia University