Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Design in the First Year

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Sherri Youssef, The Ohio State University; Patrick James Herak, The Ohio State University; J. Blake Hylton, Ohio Northern University; Todd France, Ohio Northern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

the problem in this manner, they tend to quickly formulate solutions to this well-defined problem [12] and ultimately commit Type III Errors.Wholistic mastery of engineering problem framing skills is vital to engineering students such thatthey can apply them to scenarios with poorly defined problems as practicing engineers. Soleexposure to well-defined problems in engineering courses leads students to develop untenablehabits such as little reflection on what could be done or the scenario as a whole and subsequentlack of proactive behavior to find the information needed [13]. While these students may be ableto solve well-defined problems upon graduation, they may be unable to do such when the problemis in a realistic context as design problems

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Anika Coolbaugh Pirkey, West Virginia University; Lizzie Santiago, West Virginia University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

improve their problem solving skills and to address their misconceptions.Acknowledgements:Portions of this project were supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) IUSE Grant(DUE-1504730). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in thismaterial are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National ScienceFoundation.References:[1] ACT, INC. "Profile Report-National."[2] Jacquez, R. B., et al. "Building a foundation for pre-calculus engineering freshmen throughan integrated learning community." Page 10 (2005): 1.[3] Seymour, E., and Hewitt, N. Talking about leaving. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1997.[4] Santiago, L., Coolbaugh, A.R., Veeramachaneni, S.S., and Morris, M.L., Board# 129

Conference Session

First-year Programs: Cornucopia #1

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Julianne Vernon, Vanderbilt University; Yin Huang, Vanderbilt University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

activities we will increasestudents mindset in the three C’s as compared to a control group. The assessment includescuriosity scale pre & post survey and three reflection assignments.MethodsParticipants - This research project was approved by Vanderbilt’s IRB # 191344. Participants inthis research were broken into two major groups, intervention and control. The interventiongroup are students who enrolled in the new introductory chemical engineering module. Thecontrol group are students who enrolled in the historical model of the chemical engineeringsection. Table 1 below, summarizes the number of students in the control and interventiongroups.Table 1. Enrollment data for Control and Intervention Modules Control

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Integrating Computing into the First Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shelley Lorimer, Grant MacEwan University; Jeffrey A. Davis, Grant MacEwan University; Olivia Tronchin, University of Alberta

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

) beacon mode and iii) remote mode, which utilize functions to make use of the sensor. This sensor was easily connected to MATLAB and programs written to utilize it. The functions associated with this sensor are straightforward and should be easy for first-year engineering students to use with practice.”  “The ultrasonic sensor has two modes: i) presence mode and ii) measure mode. It would be possible to collect data and write the data to files for later analysis. This sensor was easily connected to MATLAB and programs could be written to utilize it. This sensor also makes use of functions that are straightforward for use in our programming course.”  “The color sensor has three modes: i) color mode, ii) reflected

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Work in Progress Postcard Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carol S. Gattis, University of Arkansas; Xochitl Delgado Solorzano, University of Arkansas; Don Nix, University of Arkansas; Jennie S. Popp Ph.D., University of Arkansas ; Michele Cleary, Cleary Scientific Intelligence, LLC; Wenjuo Lo, University of Arkansas; Bryan Hill, University of Arkansas; Paul D. Adams, University of Arkansas

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Dr. Wen-Juo Lo is an Associate Professor in the Educational Statistics and Research Methodology (ESRM) program at the University of Arkansas. His research interests involve methodological issues related to analyses with a focus on psychometric methods. The recent research agenda concentrates statis- tical methods for the detection of bias in psychological measurement, especially measurement invariance on latent factor models. In addition, he also conducts research to develop effective latent variable model and instrument that reflects the factors of college students’ retention.Dr. Bryan Hill, University of Arkansas c American Society for Engineering Education, 2019

Conference Session

FPD2 - First-Year Advising and Transition

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jean Kampe, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Whitney Edmister, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Christi Boone, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Bevlee Watford, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

. For fall 2006 and 2007, there is a stronglink between the course and the peer mentoring program counts.Course Evaluation Data summarizing evaluation of EngE2984 for both runs are presented in Table IV.Those items preceded by an asterisk are student response items that were extracted from theusual SPOT (Student Perception of Teaching) course evaluations administered on the last day oflecture. The values reported for these items are response averages for the fall 2006 and thesummer 2007 runs. The last four items in Table IV reflect actual student success in the course. Page 13.1297.8Table III. A summary of fall participation in the NETS peer

Conference Session

1553 FPD3 - Computer & Programming Tools in First Year Instruction

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

W. David Harding, University of New Haven; Samuel Daniels, University of New Haven

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Figure 1: Format for Schedule Development in Microsoft ExcelThe students evaluate the weekly schedules by comparing the actual recorded activities with thescheduled activities. The schedule is then adjusted to better reflect the actual priorities andschedules and the process is repeated. After a one-month period of self-assessment, studentshave completed the Success4Students program and have refined their schedules for the semester.In the final two weeks of schedule adjustments, the students use the schedules as a basis forestablishing teams. Those with similar free time for scheduled meetings are grouped togetherand Outlook is introduced.Managing Individual Student’s SchedulesIndividual students can create and manage their schedules within

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Assessment

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brittany Ann Kos, University of Colorado, Boulder; Sarah Miller, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

new weekly table that contained three activities named “Attend”,“View”, and “Read”, and two homework assignments named “Do” and “Write”. The Attend,View, and Read activities disseminated the course content through in-person events, onlinevideos, and textbook reading. The Do assignments were as a quiz or survey that had studentsanswer questions about the weekly activities and reflect on their immediate applicability. TheWrite assignments were one-page essays where we asked students to reflect on the weeklyactivities and to create a personal plan that would set themselves up to “Become a SuccessfulEngineering Student”. Students only received credit for the Do and Write assignments. The fullassignment schedule is attached in the Appendix.The

Conference Session

First-Year Program Division Poster Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lindsay Corneal, Grand Valley State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

their strengths andthe areas where they need to improve in order to be able to attain the goals they have set forthemselves. Rather than just identifying the areas where they need to make improvements, theyare also directed to develop plans to address these areas.Throughout the modules, there are activities for the students to apply the various techniques orskills that were presented. They are asked to reflect on what worked best for them, whether theynoticed any improvements in their academic performance or ability to complete assignmentsbecause of the use of the skills and techniques they had learned.Finally, graduating seniors were interviewed to provide their advice or words of wisdom for theincoming students. Without telling the senior

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

, research, reflection, and solving flowcharto If the Group chooses to spend money, please do not spend more than $75 (per group) on theproject. I expect most groups will spend much less than this amount. Previously, the groupaverage was ~$15.Milestones:o MS1) Escape Room Proposal - Theme and Puzzle Ideas ● 5 min Presentation of your idea + theme ● 1 page write up of your idea + themeo MS2) Paper Prototype – Playtestable and Self-review ● All puzzles made from paper with a rough draft of the rules to guide the players ● Playtesting on the due date with classmates ● Reflection on your own escape room and plans moving forward (2 pages max)o MS3) Fully Playable Prototypes ● All puzzles must be done (other than minor tweaking) ● Rules should be

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 3; The Best of All the FPD Papers

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephanie M. Gratiano, Roger Williams University; William John Palm IV P.E., Roger Williams University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

than a student whoexpresses extrinsic motives. Codes that reflected students’ expression of self-image, such ascodes relating to self-efficacy, are denoted to provide insight on another hypotheses: studentswho indicate interest or efficacy in math and/or science will perform better and be more likely tobe retained than those who do not indicate such interest or efficacy.Codes for Question 3 were organized into categories that denote the influences that affected astudent’s decision to study engineering. These categories relate to People, Experiences,Technology, and Other Influences. The “Family” section of the People category distinguishesbetween simply mentioning a family member and mentioning that a family member is anengineer or does related

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 7: The Transition from High School to College

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nora Honken, University of Cincinnati; Patricia A Ralston, University of Louisville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

undesirable impulses, and achieving optimal performance (e.g., making oneself persist) all constitute important instances of the self-overriding its responses and altering its states or behavior. More generally, breaking bad habits, resisting temptation, and keeping good self-discipline all reflect the ability of the self to control itself, and we sought to build our scale around them24.The scale was introduced on the survey with the following question: “With respect to highschool, how frequently does each of the following statements apply to you?” A sample itemreads “I do certain things that are bad for me, if they are fun.” The available responses were (1)Never, (2) Seldom, (3) Sometimes, (4) Often, and (5) Always. The self

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Mathematics in the First Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Katherine Watson, The Citadel; Simon Thomas Ghanat P.E., The Citadel; Timothy Aaron Wood, The Citadel; William J. Davis P.E., The Citadel; Kevin C. Bower, The Citadel

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs, Mathematics

. computer lab work and group exercises [25].Table 3. Description of categories within the Assessment Methods theme. Description Example Student reflections Students are asked to report A five-point scale was used to on their perceptions of the ask students about the course innovation(s), impacts of an engineering typically using Likert scales professor visiting precalculus and/or open response courses [17]. questions. Pre

Conference Session

Mentoring First Year Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh; Alaine Allen, University of Pittsburgh; Jeremy Tartt, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

1 – 5 scalewas used, with a value of 1 students strongly disagreeing while the value 5 correlates to thestudents strongly agreeing). The results shown in Table 2 reflect a neutral response and that thestudents endured a relatively small degree of emotional strain from unacceptable grades duringhigh school. TABLE 2 – ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE DURING HIGH SCHOOL. QUESTION #1 QUESTION #2 QUESTION #3 GENDER GENDER GENDER CLASSMEN M&F M

Conference Session

FPD 10: Teamwork

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Oguz Hanoglu, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Aladar Horvath, Ivy Tech Community College; Heidi A. Diefes-Dux, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

video-recordings. The conversationsin these frames were compared to the related part of their documented works to see how theyconveyed their ideas. Portions of the video-recordings which were found to be related to theresearch question of this study were transcribed and used to triangulate findings from the writtendocuments and interviews.Interviews were transcribed and relevant pieces about how they respond to TA feedback wereselected. These pieces provided insights to students’ individual reflection on their teamwork.Results of Team A and Team B were constantly compared with each other to identify thesimilarities and differences in the ways they respond to TA feedback and conveyed their ideas intheir documented works.IV. ResultsSubmitted

Conference Session

FPD XI: Tidbits and Cookies

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas J. Vasko, Central Connecticut State University; Peter F. Baumann, Central Connecticut State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

students from high school to college  Increased academic success (reflected in higher GPA, fewer academic probations, improved student satisfaction)  Recruitment and retention of stronger students  Enhanced interactions between studentsOur university website explains [36] that “our Living-Learning Communities (LLC’s) are on-campus communities designed for students with common majors and academic interests.”Engineering is one of three majors selected to participate in the university’s pilot LLC program.Students live together in a designated dormitory area and together take one similar course inaddition to the FYE course.This Living Learning Community effort in engineering complements similar work ongoing atmany other institutions

Conference Session

FPD VII: Innovative Curriculum Elements of Successful First-Year Courses

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gerald W. Recktenwald, Portland State University; David E. Hall, Louisiana Tech University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

20.5 61.5 my interest in electromechanical systems to …9 The manufacturing and fabrication experience in this 4.00 2.6 17.9 79.5 class has caused my motivation for school work to …10 The manufacturing and fabrication experience in this 4.08 0 10.3 89.7 class has caused my practical knowledge of the engineering profession to …11 The in-class exercises, such as programming, working 3.59 2.6 41.0 56.4 with breadboard circuits, fabrication has caused my motivation to study math, physics and chemistry to… Item 6 reflects students’ self-assessed knowledge of engineering design. A large majority(86 percent) felt that the class increased

Conference Session

FPD VII: Innovative Curriculum Elements of Successful First-Year Courses

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chris Plouff, Grand Valley State University; Deborah Morrow, Grand Valley State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

with all ofthe program outcomes, ABET does not define lifelong learning or provide guidelines forassessing achievement of lifelong learning skills. Besterfield-Sacre et al.[2] identified keyattributes of lifelong learning as part of an NSF-funded Action Agenda study (listed on theEngineering Education Assessment Methodologies and Curricula Innovation website[3]). Theseattributes included the ability to: ● demonstrate reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills; ● demonstrate an awareness of what needs to be learned; ● follow a learning plan; ● identify, retrieve, and organize information; ● understand and remember new information; ● demonstrate critical thinking skills; and, ● reflect on one‟s own

Conference Session

FPD 7: Beyond Course Content

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela R Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder; Nathan E. Canney PE, Seattle University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

courses contributed to their views of SR. Atthe small public university all of the civil and environmental engineering students worked on SL projects,but 21% still indicated that none of their courses contributed to their understanding of SR. These resultsseem to indicate that the impacts of courses on the SR of students may be more limited than instructorsintend. This may reflect a typical dichotomy between “what is taught” versus “what is learned”. It mayalso indicate that instructors should use reflective essays or in-class discussions to encouragemetacognition and thinking around how engineering can and should try to positively impact society andhelp underserved populations.26Ethics provides a counter example to the minimal impact of courses

Conference Session

FPD 4: Peers and Perceptions

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Pow, Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, RIT; María Helguera, Rochester Institute of Technology; Elizabeth Pieri, Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, Rochester Institute of Technology; Sadie Wolters; Michael Glynn Augspurger, Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, Rochester Institute of Technology; Briana A. Neuberger, Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, Rochester Institute of Technology; Victoria Scholl, Rochester Institute of Technology; Elizabeth Bondi, Rochester Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

succeed, and where institutions support such communities of learners.3 Higher education should produce new frames of understanding by piloting new ideas, tools, and approaches to keep students’ learning on the cutting edge.4In 2010 the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, an imaging systems engineeringdepartment at the Rochester Institute of Technology, developed and implemented a newfreshman-level course, known as the Freshman Imaging Project, which embodies thispedagogical framework. While the architects of this new pedagogy wanted it to reflect the mostrecent research on STEM education, it was also built upon other fundamental beliefs. Forexample, the belief that first year students are capable of understanding advanced

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Ryan Solnosky P.E., Pennsylvania State University; M. Kevin Parfitt, Pennsylvania State University; Sez Atamturktur Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University; Moses Ling P.E., Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

. To assist in keeping students engaged and avoiding passive lecture settings, a variety ofactive learning education theories are possible fits for FYS. A possible learning theory relevantFYS is Kolb’s model [8]. Specifically for FYS, Kolb's concrete experience and activeexperimentation stages are best suited [9]. Keeping within Kolb’s theory, and to promote activelecturing, engaging activities were implemented from various active learning domains. Theseactivities took the form of brainstorming, case study reflections, scavenger hunts, think-pairshares, etc. We also wish to maintain and build a sense of community within the students thatleads to social networking development [10]. Within this social knowledge network, as soon asstudents begin

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Michael Alley, Pennsylvania State University; Kaitlyn Pigeon, Pennsylvania State University; Stephanie Cutler, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

customers (engineering students and faculty in ourcase). Through this process, as educators understand more about what the customers needed, theeducators revise the design. In our application of this process, we interviewed more than 100 engineering students(most in their third or fourth year) who had not seen the films—about one-third of theinterviewed engineering students were women. The rationale behind selecting the students whohad not seen the films (our prototype) was to discover what the students reflected on as beingimportant in learning to write as engineers. In particular, we asked students about the following: 1. Biggest challenges faced when called upon to write an engineering report 2. Biggest surprises about engineering

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: First-Year Experiences

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Randy Hugh Brooks, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

commentary from the first-year students. Their perspective will provemore valuable as they progress through their collegiate career and evaluate how the foundationlaid in their first three semesters has benefited them. From this study’s perspective, they hadno/limited knowledge of the previous design. • “Though I spent much of the semester trying to understand what learning to code had to do with engineering, it came together at the end when I had to write a reflection about how my teams worked and what I have learned. My coding fear had been replaced with confidence” [6]. • “Though I learned to code during high school computer science, this was a new environment considering the lab challenge

Conference Session

First-year Programs: Retention and Bridge Programs #1

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Jeremiah Abiade, University of Illinois at Chicago; Joanne Moliski, University of Illinois at Chicago

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

to themas long as they are UIC students.For the non-therapeutic content, the research team leaned heavily into the work being done bythe Office for Research on Student Success, particularly a tool called Non-Cognitive Profiles(Appendix). The percentages to the right reflect all students who participated in the survey. Forparticipating students, the areas of highest concern were identified as the student’s likelihood toseek help/view help-seeking as non-intimidating and the student’s confidence that s/he willbelong in college. To address the academic help-seeking, the research team attempted tonormalize interactions with professors, which can often be intimidating to new students. Anengineering faculty member either lead or co-facilitated

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Monday Potpourri

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amelia Chesley, Purdue University; Nathan Mentzer, Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering); Dawn Laux, Purdue Polytechnic Institute; Tejasvi Parupudi, Purdue University; Asefeh Kardgar, Purdue Polytechnic Institute, West Lafayette; Sarah Knapp, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

ways of thinking)” (p. 2). Theyimplemented a studio requirement each year, where project based learning, community service,and reflection are highlighted. Kellam et al.8 drew from student reflections and focus grouptranscripts in their evaluation of this long-term integration. Guthrie et al.6 used quantitativestudent self assessment and collected student comments to gauge the effectiveness of theirinterdisciplinary capstone design course. Rhee et al.9 in “A Case Study of a Co-instructedMultidisciplinary Senior Capstone Project in Sustainability” discussed a senior capstone coursewhere students engage together with specific shared projects, share classroom space and meetingtimes. Mentors from several engineering and non-engineering disciplines

Conference Session

FPD2 -- Highlighting First-Year Programs

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jean Kampe, Virginia Tech; Whitney Edmister, Virginia Tech; Matthew Stimpson, Virginia Tech; Brad Matanin, Virginia Tech; Amanda Martin, Virginia Tech; Cory Brozina, Virginia Tech; Bevlee Watford, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

that this difference in the time within semester that the survey was given had animpact on the amount and type of reflection that each response received. However, thepercentages for each response are fairly close.Table V. Survey results for Hypatia/Galileo 2006-07 on reasons for participation in the living-learning community. Students were instructed to indicate their top three reasons from among theresponses listed in the first column of the table. Living-Learning Community Hypatia 2006-07 Galileo 2006-07 Participation Reason Cited 71 Respondents of 75 146 Respondents of 180 women men

Conference Session

FPD11 -- Multidisciplinary Experiences

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John-David Yoder, Ohio Northern University; Beverly Jaeger, Northeastern University; John K. Estell, Ohio Northern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

viaemail in order to ensure that the topic was relevant, unique, and of a reasonable scope. Topicswere selected on a first-come, first-served basis. Presentations were ideally one minute and up totwo minutes. Students were allowed to use PowerPoint only for the presentation of visual aids(photos, diagrams, etc.). In general, this was done at the beginning of each class period, thoughin one section where multiple students presented each day, one presentation was done at the endof the class period.AssessmentSeveral forms of assessment were completed in this course. First, students completed pre- andpost-surveys on a 5-point Likert scale. Second, the post-survey included several open-endedquestions for student reflection. Third, faculty reflection

Conference Session

1553 FPD3 - Computer & Programming Tools in First Year Instruction

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jess Everett, Rowan University; John Chen, Rowan University; Stephanie Farrell, Rowan University; Jennifer Kadlowec, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

, business andcomputer science. In the K-12 settings, they again find positive evidence of effectiveness inmiddle- and high-school mathematics, physics and chemistry, as well as in reading throughoutprimary and secondary education. The authors attribute these results to three factors: Increaseduse of formative assessment for feedback, which stimulates student reflections on their learning;building conceptual understanding using contrasts, both similar and different, and discussion;and motivating students to adopt mastery of learning as a goal, while avoiding theembarrassment of poor performance. Page 13.297.3More recently, Fies and Marshall11

Conference Session

FPD8 - Early Intervention & Retention

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joyce Lee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Jacob Marszalek, University of Missouri-Kansas City; Annel Medina, California Polytechnic State University; Susan Linnemeyer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

happened during SAGE and reflects onwhat must be improved upon.IntroductionThe underrepresentation of minority students in science, technology, engineering andmathematics (hereafter STEM) has been an enduring crisis in U.S. education. Decrying suchinequity, efforts increased from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s to educate and train minoritystudents in the technical fields. To that end, one would be hard pressed to find a higher educationinstitution that had not developed some sort of program to support minority students’ STEMparticipation1. Though the rate at which students seek to study STEM is increasingly comparableby race/ethnicity, the rate of students graduating with STEM degrees is still disparate2 3 4. Thechallenge remains to continue and

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

solving skills or providing a design-and-buildexperience. It enables these students to picture, reflect upon, and make informed decisions abouttheir potential future careers as practicing engineers. This thought process then maps onto choice ofmajor. It can encourage students to stay or motivate them to switch to another program that betteraligns with their long-term goals.Many students choose engineering for pragmatic reasons, believing that completion of anengineering degree will guarantee stable employment prospects with higher starting salaries.11Unfortunately, students also elect to major in engineering by way of an “uninformed choice”.11 Thatis, they envision an engineering degree as the means to fulfill childhood fantasies. Studies