Conference Session

Learning as a Community

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Ricks, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; Rhonda Kowalchuk, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; John Nicklow, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; Loen Graceson-Martin, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; Lalit Gupta, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; James Mathias, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; Jale Tezcan, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; Kathy Pericak-Spector, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

students’ persistence and success has received a great deal of attentionin the literature. According to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE)1, “Only 40-60percent of entering engineering students persist to an engineering degree, and women andminorities are at the low end of that range. These retention rates represent an unacceptablesystemic failure to support student learning in the field.” (p. 40).Noteworthy is that research has shown that predictors of retention change throughout the firsttwo years of an engineering program and predictors of graduation vary across universities.2Tinto’s3 Student Integration Theory posits that students enter university with varied backgroundcharacteristics and goal commitments which in turn influences their

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

content with mixed and/or out-of-date styling. Yet the inclusion of personal, course related information created anadditional sense of presence that cannot be felt in, say, a textbook alone.The original site used a variety of techniques to try and establish an online presence. Achat room (see Figure 1), populated by proctors during office hours, as well as acomment interface in the test submission system provided the most direct and focusedcontact with proctors. When office hours were not in session there was a course emailaddress where students could send queries and comments and receive feedback within 24hours. A webcam, usually used in concert with the chat room, was also implemented sostudents could see other people in the office hours, and

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

SAGE – Student Assisted Guidance in EngineeringI. IntroductionEngineers are key personnel to maintain or promote economic growth and create jobs throughinnovation in a society 1. However, engineers experience difficulties in transition or socializationin multiple stages of their academic and professional career 2-5. Especially, first-year engineeringstudents are exposed to more critical environmental changes and discrepancies of identity 6, 7.Unsuccessful transitioning into rigorous engineering education context induces low retention offirst year engineering students. The National Science Foundation 8 reports that only 60% ofstudents who enter engineering disciplines obtain an engineering degree. Some engineeringcolleges provide special

Conference Session

First-Year Advising and Transition

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jay Brockman, University of Notre Dame; Lynnwood Brown, WikiRing Partnership; Michael McDonald, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

different kinds of resources supported by the wiki, and illustrate howusers access them during a session. Figure 1 illustrates the types of objects defined for theIntroEngineering.org wiki and the relationships between them. Central to the organization ofboth the textbook and the wiki is the concept of a Learning Objective. In the context of theBook, a learning objective is a specific competency that a student should demonstrate uponcompletion of a Chapter. For example, in Chapter 1 of the book, “Engineering and Society,” oneof the learning objectives is that students should be able “to articulate a view of our environmentas containing both naturally occurring and human-made or artificial things and to discuss the roleof engineers in developing and

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

their projects, and to learn to implementsensors as part of their design projects. By analyzing student questionnaires and curricularcontent, we measure the numbers of activities that promote lifelong learning as well as the extentto which these activities are completed independently. This paper will provide an overview ofour first year engineering experience as well as the assessment results that help us measure theextent of lifelong learning.Background and IntroductionCriterion 3H (Program Outcomes) of the 2008-2009 ABET EAC requires that engineeringprograms instill within their students “a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage inlife-long learning”1. Though all engineering programs recognize the need for providing

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

potentialemployment opportunities. In an existing Project-Based Introduction to Engineering course,developed by multidisciplinary engineering faculty, [1] students learn about differentengineering fields through text material, in-class discussion, and through their own research onone of the engineering fields. Since system engineering is not one of the major disciplines, mostengineering introduction texts do not adequately cover the description of this field, or basicsystem engineering methods, and students do not usually choose this field to research because itis unknown to them. This research develops material for the introduction course that adequatelyintroduces some of the concepts in the field of system engineering, while still maintaining theability to

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

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

© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 ENG2: Engineering Engagement for Student Success Building a Community for First Year Freshmen in the College of Engineering Research has shown that engineering retention and graduation rates are enhanced throughfirst year experiences that actively incorporate and engage faculty and students. 1-5 Based on thispremise, the STEM Talent Expansion Project at Louisiana State University (LSU), funded by theNational Science Foundation, has focused the majority of its efforts into the first year experienceof incoming freshmen in order to increase retention and ultimately graduation rates in theCollege of Engineering. This will be achieved by

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

face many challenges bothacademic and non-academic9. One widely studied impact of these challenges is transfer shock, adip in the GPAs of transfer students during the first one or two terms after transfer6. Althoughbelieved to be nearly universal, transfer shock is generally not severe10 and Cantrell et al.1 havetheorized that pre-transfer support programs are one technique that can be used to help transferstudents get through their transfer shock and “experience the rewards of their efforts.”We were interested in comparing how well our transfer students were doing in comparison withtheir native classmates. One measure of success is how long a student takes to graduate and dothey ever graduate. The most commonly used metric for graduation and

Conference Session

Projects and Problems in First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Benson, Clemson University; David Bowman, Clemson University; Randolph, Randy Hutchison; Carol Wade, Clemson University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

experimental design consisted of comparisons between three maingroups: 1) controls, 2) those who viewed the tutorials, and 3) those who viewed the tutorials andparticipated in the in-class activity. Student performance on pre- and post- content tests, andself-assessments of learning gains were compared. We report on results of these assessments,and their implications for affecting change in student success, especially for students with weakpre-requisite skills.IntroductionStudents entering our first year engineering course arrive with different levels of mathematicspreparation, which is of critical importance to their academic success. In our program, studentsscoring below a proficiency level on an institution-wide mathematics placement test are

Conference Session

Assessment and Curriculum Development

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Casey Canfield, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; Yevgeniya Zastavker, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

small engineering college that uses project-based learning (PjBL) as its main curricular and pedagogical practice, this curriculum expects that mathematics and physics faculty team-teach in the environment of integrated course blocks. A semi-structured, open-ended interview protocol is employed and grounded theory is used to identify answers to the following questions: (1) What are the conceptions of teaching held by mathematics and physics faculty involved in implementing a first-year integrated project-based engineering curriculum as defined by Kember’s categorization of faculty conceptions? (2) To what extent does the context, in which faculty instruct, affect their teaching approaches

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

previously(1). Two sections ofENES 101 during the fall 2008 semester were designated as First-Year Success Courses and oneHonors section was restricted to Honors College or Engineering Scholar students. Each year a different design project is assigned and the students must research, design,construct, and develop an analytical model and then test, evaluate, and report on the product.The goal is to select a product that is fun, inexpensive to construct, simple, and yet requiresfundamental engineering principles. Safety is the primary concern, and the design specificationsare structured to include safety precautions. The projects are also structured to have “braggingrights” associated with the product performance. This has resulted in friendly

Conference Session

First-Year Advising and Transition

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Maria Sanchez, California State University, Fresno; Ira Sorensen, California State University, Fresno; Walter Mizuno, California State University, Fresno; Satya Mahanty, California State University, Fresno

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

(Brightest Engineering Student Team) award. The competition is integrated as amajor component of the curriculum in the first-year design course at each of theparticipating institutions. The objectives of the competition are both curricular andinstitutional. The curricular objectives are (1) to introduce students to a structuredmechanical design methodology, (2) enhance communication, teaming, and interpersonalskills, (3) have the students physically realize and test a mechanical system, and (4) toimprove written and oral communication skills by documenting the entire experiencethrough a design report and presentation. Institutional objectives are (1) to enhancerecruiting efforts by creating a pipeline of students from participating communitycolleges

Conference Session

Exploring Retention

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian DeJong, Central Michigan University; Kumar Yelamarthi, Central Michigan University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

, etc.), corresponding 1 Table 1: Grade point scale for CMU. Grade Point Grade Point A 4.00 C 2.00 A- 3.67 C- 1.67 B+ 3.33 D+ 1.33 B 3.00 D 1.00 B- 2.67 D- 0.67 C+ 2.33 E 0.00retention rates, and where the unretained students are going. In the following sections, wepresent and discuss a program overview, general retention rates

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

through the use of technology is the way to maintain the U.S. edge inthe global market place.1 An argument for the second perspective is the belief that the U.S. leadsin creativity and innovation and has the best universities in the world to pilot the way.2Regardless of the viewpoint taken, it is apparent that we must transition more high schoolstudents into engineering to be competitive; having a clear picture of the current state of themarket factors that may influence our youth as they make their career choice is imperative.According to the U.S. Department of Education5 it was estimated that in the fall of 2008 nearly49.8 million students attended public schools in the U.S. with an additional 6.2 million attendingprivate schools. Of those

Conference Session

First-Year Advising and Transition

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

SystemResearch has shown that students in the United States study harder in college than in highschool, while East Asian students study harder in high school than in college.1 Surveys of timeuse by students show the average American students study 4.6 hours per week in high school and9.4 hours in college. On the other hand, Korean and Japanese students study 14 and 19 hoursrespectively in high school and 5.1 and 8.8 hours in college 2,3,4 An explanation of why this isso is that East Asian students study harder in high school since these students compete harder toenter better colleges than American students. East Asian firms believe that the name of thecollege is the best predictor of how good a worker the college graduate will be. Therefore EastAsian

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

reports citing a dearth of trained professionals in these fields.1 Particularemphasis has been placed on enhancing the first-year experiences of science and engineering majorsin an attempt to expose these students to practical experience alongside traditional pedagogicalcurricula.2Conventional “first-year experience” courses focus on teaching college survival skills, providingcampus orientation, and building camaraderie to support students as they embark on highereducation. These activities are believed to improve student retention by reinforcing critical skillsets, knowledge, and networks for ensuing college years.3 The engineering education literature calls

Conference Session

Exploring Retention

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Cassady, University of Arkansas; Sean Mulvenon, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

plethora of research has been generated regarding the prediction of success in college (Youngand Korbin11; Burton and Ramist4; Ting8; Pennock-Roman7; Wilson10; Bamforth et al.1).However, a growing concern among researchers is the ability to retain students in thequantitative fields like math, science, and engineering. Retention of students is defined as eithergraduation or concurrent enrolment in a specific academic field. Without retention of students inmath- and science-based fields, national and local economies suffer due to the increased demandfor such research and development professionals (NARSET Report6). Retaining students is agrowing concern in many university departments, especially in the field of engineering.According to the National

Conference Session

The Ever-Changing Course

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Gustafson, Duke University; Rebecca Simmons, Duke University; W. Neal Simmons, Duke University; Michael Ehrenfried, Kent Denver School; Tod Laursen, Duke University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

LabsCurrently, there are five data acquisition labs in the course – • DAQ 1: Introduction to Data Acquisition: Digital I/O • DAQ 2: Introduction to Data Acquisition: Analog I/O • DAQ 3: Calibration of a Pressure Sensor • DAQ 4: Introduction to Data Acquisition: Synchronous I/O • DAQ 5: Aliasing and Frequency SpaceThis paper will look at the first three; a future work will present the latter two.Students work in groups of two – or at most three – at stations equipped with two PCs runningWindows. At each of these stations, one of the two computers has a multifunction dataacquisition card (DAQ)7 that has eight programmable digital I/O lines, two analog outputchannels, and 16 single-ended analog input channels. The five labs are meant to

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

Background of the U of A First-year ProgramThe U of A is a high-ranking research-led university with an undergraduate engineeringstudent body of approximately 2500, the largest in New Zealand. The first-year intake iscurrently limited to a total of 620 students. The School of Engineering, which recentlycelebrated its centenary, offers degrees in nine engineering specializations.All Bachelor of Engineering students follow a set of common Part 1 courses which provide asolid foundation of engineering-science fundamentals across all disciplines. Students areselected at first-year entry for a limited number of places, and almost all the incomingstudents have a high level of competence in Mathematics with Calculus and Physics at finalyear high-school

Conference Session

Assessment and Curriculum Development

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tom Bramald, Newcastle University; Sean Wilkinson, Newcastle University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

sustainability. This often draws others in the room in to the discussion asstudents’ peers volunteer their own articulations.From there, Lecture 1 presents some basic background and definitions of sustainability from avariety of sources that are related to civil engineering. This runs as follows: ≠ Presentation of the Bruntland Commission Report definition of sustainability2 ≠ Timeline of sustainability debate starting with the 1968 Club of Rome through to 2002’s Rio to Johannesburg conference ≠ Presentation of UK Government Principles of Sustainable Development (see Figure 1) ≠ Triple Bottom Line Methodology presented as: o Venn diagram o Russian Doll Model3 ≠ Presentation of the Royal Institution of

Conference Session

Beyond the Engineering Classroom

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gary Bailey, North Carolina A&T State University; Cindy Waters, North Carolina A&T State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Center to providethe engineer with top-notch professional skills to complement their technical expertise.Co-directors Marie Paretti and Lisa McNair, faculty members in Virginia Tech'sDepartment of Engineering Education state that in the global marketplace, U.S. engineersneed "superior communication and collaboration skills."Table 1 displays the ABET criteria, a-k, that Culver, et al reorganized into groups thatreflect different types of intellectual challenge.5 They associated a set of skills andattitudes to the outcomes. More specifically, the particular a-k ABET outcomes that areaddressed in UNST 130 can be sub-grouped in the table which has been modified fromone created by Culver, McGrann and Lehmann.v Subgroup II is addressed during

Conference Session

Goal Specific First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lesley Strawderman, Mississippi State University; Bill Elmore, Mississippi State University; Arash Salehi, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

teaching and learning, and self-efficacyhas been widely studied in higher education.1-6 The degree to which students believe they cansucceed, with an accompanying commitment to achieving that success in their chosen field ofstudy, however defined, is influenced by a variety of factors. Personal values and goals, earlyacademic preparation, gender/race/socio-economic7 factors and even group dynamics within agiven student cohort can affect a student’s determination and persistence in his/her major. Thisis clearly seen among students pursuing degrees in engineering where rates of retention arealarmingly low and continuing to decline.Mindful of these issues, the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering at Mississippi StateUniversity, in the fall 2006

Conference Session

Beyond the Engineering Classroom

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cindy Veenstra, Engineering education consultant

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

considered. In this study, Calculus I engineering students were compared to students inother fields of study (Pre-Med, non-engineering STEM students, and Non-STEM students) whoalso enrolled in Calculus I as their first math course in college. “STEM” refers to science,technology, engineering and math majors.From this study, the following research conclusions were made: 1. There was no significant difference in the grade distribution of the engineering students‟ Calculus I grade compared to students in other fields. 2. A significant difference in the distributions of the first-year GPA (grade point average) existed among the four student sectors with the engineering students showing the distribution with the lowest first-year GPA

Conference Session

Retention Tools and Programs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cindy Veenstra, Engineering education consultant; Gary D. Herrin, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

engineer. In addition, Stevens et al.discussed that engineering students tend to develop a shared identification with other engineeringstudents in comparison to other student groups.8Some empirical studies support the theoretical need for developing the identity of an engineer forretention in engineering. The Astin and Astin study found that having a peer group ofengineering students was a significant factor for retention in engineering.1 This is consistent withStevens et al. findings.8 Levin and Wyckoff and Besterfield-Sacre et al. found that students who Page 14.499.3had a good impression of science and engineering showed a higher first-year

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

.) Page 14.44.4Project Learning Outcomes and How They Relate to Course Learning OutcomesThe learning outcomes were identified separately for the course and the Lego RobotProject. Before introducing concept maps, the instructor identified how the projectoutcomes would serve the course learning outcomes. Table 1 summarizes the courselearning outcomes listed on the course syllabus and the project activities and learningoutcomes that meet these course objectives.Table 1. Project Learning Outcomes and Corresponding Course Learning Outcomes RELEVANT RELATEDCOURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES PROJECT LEARNING OUTCOMES a. Use and demonstrate creativity1. Describe

Conference Session

Projects and Problems in First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Senay Purzer, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

knowledge.For example, ABET criterion 3d requires that engineering programs can demonstrate that theirstudents have "an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams." Thus, many engineeringprograms use teaming in their courses as a mechanism to achieve this outcome. Research on Teams Learning to “Working in Teams” “Working in Teams” “Work in Teams” to Design to Learn Figure 1. A Typology of Research on TeamsThe second research category, “working in teams” to design have also been addressed in manystudies. These studies have generally used qualitative research methods looking deep into thenature of team interactions

Conference Session

FPD4 -- Real-World Case Studies & Projects

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Liesl Hotaling, Stevens Institute of Technology; Richard Sheryll, Center for Maritime Systems, Stevens Institute of Technology; Rustam Stolkin, Center for Maritime Systems, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

. These projects help expose students to practical design issues in thefreshman year, foster creative problem solving skills and may aid student retention onengineering programs. These projects have also been successfully piloted in pre-collegeprograms, aimed at generating interest in engineering careers among high school students.We describe ongoing work to extend these projects to include computer control and sensoryfeedback, allowing students to develop autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Further, weoutline ongoing work to assess the effectiveness of these modules.1 IntroductionThis paper describes an ongoing effort, at Stevens Institute of Technology, to develop a set ofeducational modules, which will teach fundamental engineering

Conference Session

FPD3 -- Professional Issues for First-Year Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Simmons, University of Queensland; Elise Barrella, Bucknell University; Keith Buffinton, Bucknell University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

workplace.4Engineers Australia (EA) and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology(ABET) are two organizations that have developed regulations for engineering degreeprograms, and both require direct preparation for professional engineering practice. EA has set forth the following criteria for a professional engineering degree2: Program structure and content (1) math, science, engineering principles, skills and tools for discipline (40%) (2) engineering design and projects (20%) (3) discipline specialization (20%) (4) exposure to professional engineering practice, including management and ethics (10%) (5) additional electives (10%) (6) special emphasis on life-long learning, team interaction, and

Conference Session

FPD2 -- Highlighting First-Year Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Howard, East Carolina University; Joseph Musto, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

modeling software, along with the advances incomputer hardware of the past fifteen years, has enabled the design cycle to be compressed inmany industries.One topic of debate among engineering educators is whether or not 2-D graphics should betaught before 3-D. A consideration that is sometimes lost in this debate is the meaning of theterm 2-D graphics. This term can be used to describe: 1. The representation of 3-D objects with 2-D multi-view engineering drawings, and 2. The representation of objects/systems that are idealized as two-dimensional, such as floor plans, site plans, and circuit diagrams.If engineering graphics instruction is to include 2-D graphics as described by the first definition,then 3D objects must be introduced at