Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Gregory Edward Simon, University of Colorado Denver; Maryam Darbeheshti, University of Colorado Denver; Miriam Howland Cummings, University of Colorado Denver; William Taylor Schupbach, University of Colorado Denver; Tom Altman, University of Colorado Denver; Michael S. Jacobson, University of Colorado Denver; Katherine Goodman, University of Colorado Denver

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Diversity

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First-Year Programs

the role of menteecould promote relational identity development as the mentee creates a bond with their mentor,and later on the role of mentor might promote communal identity development as the mentorshifts focus to giving back to the community. The researchers plan to further explore thesepossible relationships as they relate to RQ3, particularly relating to the complexity of developingrelationships and community against the backdrop of the global pandemic. In an effort to supportmentors and mentees in their academic careers both as they participate within and beyond thecontainer of the Program, future research will begin the consideration of a systemic frameworkthat is capable of registering the relationships between more discrete

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

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First-Year Programs

a graduation senior Industrial Engineering student at Pennsylvania State University. She has been an active mentor within the Women in Engineering Program and in the organization Undergraduate Teaching and Research Experiences in Engineering. During the Spring 2021 semester, she has helped to market the writing reports online tutorial to more Penn State engineering faculty and students. Kaitlyn is looking forward to starting her career in business operations consulting after graduation.Dr. Stephanie Cutler, Pennsylvania State University Dr. Stephanie Cutler has degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, and a PhD in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech. She is an Assistant Research

Conference Session

First-year Programs: Focus on Student Success 2

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Genaro Zavala, Tecnologico de Monterrey; Universidad Andres Bello; Esmeralda Campos, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico; Carlos Eduardo Martinez-Torteya, Tecnologico de Monterrey

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First-Year Programs

are satisfiedwith the design of the Engineering and Science Modeling course. The results suggest thatstudents achieve the course's objectives and get real-life experience working with the challengesin each avenue. The introductory course raises students' awareness of the different engineeringareas that might not interest them; however, they value the importance of those areas. Raisingstudents' awareness of the different engineering areas aligns with institutional efforts to helpstudents enter a globalized world and improve their interdisciplinary job market competencies.Another important conclusion is that the course helps students reflect on their career choices.After taking the course, some decided to change their degree in the School of

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Design in the First Year

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Catalina Cortazar, P. Univ. Católica de Chile

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Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

, andpromote critical thinking [2]. In the learning context of PBL, students develop authenticquestions for problems that are situated within real-world practices [3], which leads tomeaningful learning experiences [4].Competences, such as critical thinking and communication skills promoted by PBLmethodologies, are increasingly important for engineering practice. In the labor market it isexpected that engineers not only work in technical contexts, developing solutions that meetclients’ needs, but also perform their work through effective collaboration with others [5]. Inengineering schools, these competencies are usually taught in the design courses at the finalstages of the career (Capstone Course), which use project-based learning

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Design in the First Year

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Djedjiga Belfadel, Fairfield University; Michael Zabinski, Fairfield University; Ryan Munden, Fairfield University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

incorporating achallenging team design term project in a first-year engineering course for students majoring inelectrical, bio, mechanical, and students who have not declared a major. The course providescore engineering knowledge and competencies in a highly interactive course format. Topicsinclude professional skills such as technical writing and presentation, guidelines for professionalengineering practice, and career preparation.In this three credit-hour course, an engineering approach to problem solving is taught with anemphasis on teamwork, communication (oral and written), creativity, ingenuity, coding, andcomputer-aided design tools. The instructional approach used in this course involves freshmanengineering students as active participants in

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Unique Projects & Pedagogies

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Michelle M. Blum, Syracuse University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

and compared.Overall, the use of IBL methods has the potential to greatly improve the teaching and learning offirst year engineers. It will educate students early in their college career to the benefits and skillsessential to inductive learning. Over time, students will see improved retention and satisfaction intheir learning. While a number of issues remain unaddressed, this work is progress is a verypromising step in the development of improved first year engineering curricula.References [1] Boyer Commission (1998) Reinventing undergraduate education: A blueprint for America’s research universities, The Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in Research Univ., SUNY Stony Brook, N.Y., Dec

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Design in the First Year

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Demetris Geddis, Hampton University; Brian Aufderheide, Hampton University; Herman W. Colquhoun Jr., IBM Canada Ltd.

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

. In addition, students were trained in an abbreviated version of human-centered EnterpriseDesign Thinking adopted from IBM and given a design project that incorporated Arduino kits tobe used to create design prototypes. Students had four weeks to complete the project which countedas their final. This approach aimed to demonstrate engineering principles in action so that studentscan make a better-informed major and career decision. Overall, preliminary results show thatstudents in the course are more engaged and feel they have a clearer sense of engineering.KeywordsIntroductory Engineering Course, Undergraduate Engineering, Arduino Kits, Human CenteredDesign Enterprise Design ThinkingIntroductionThe global workforce demand for highly competent

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Cornucopia #2

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Tonya Whitehead, Wayne State University

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Diversity

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First-Year Programs

connections between this course and courses in their major,or the usefulness of the material in their future careers. Beginning in Fall 2016 severalpedagogical changes were incorporated into the course. The full study collected student data tosee the effects each aspect had on different student groups. This work in progress paper willexamine the student’s perceptions of course structure and support based on their demographicinformation.Prior to this study, the course was taught in 70-100 person sections primarily in a lecture style.Topics in the course were only vaguely connected to their chosen disciple and thus studentswould struggle to find the benefit in the course. Many students had never programmed beforeand found the thought process completely

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Sunday 5-Minute Work-in-Progress Postcard Session

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amy Trowbridge, Arizona State University; Haolin Zhu, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

exhibit more confidence that they will complete anyprogram they sign up for when they start their college career. A comparison of the 32 linkedresults showed similar trends to those seen for the entire sample population, and thus are notincluded here. 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 Focus on 1st choice theme Complete GCSP Have a Plan for Completing GCSP Pre Post Figure 3. Unpaired pre- and post-survey results of participants’ confidence in their plan tocomplete GCSP (all participants; pre (N=88), post (N=42)) Error bars represent +/- one standard

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 5B: Work-In-Progress: 5 Minute Postcard Session II

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Manaz Rusi Taleyarkhan, Purdue University; Chandan Dasgupta, Purdue University; John Alexander Mendoza-Garcia MSSEC, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Alejandra J. Magana, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Senay Purzer, Purdue University, West Lafayette

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First-Year Programs

holds a B.E. in Information Systems, a M.S. in Technology, both from Tec de Monterrey; and a M.S. in Educational Technology and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University. Her research is focused on identifying how model-based cognition in STEM can be better supported by means of expert technological and computing tools such as cyber-physical systems,visualizations and modeling and simulation tools.Dr. Senay Purzer, Purdue University, West Lafayette enay Purzer is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering Education. She is the recipient of a 2012 NSF CAREER award, which examines how engineering students approach innovation. She serves on the editorial boards of Science Education and the Journal

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

expectations when we introduced this project. However, we also observedthat there were many projects related to the example provided to the students presented inAppendix A. We saw many variations of this including changing the shape, number, and size ofthe fins or of the object that was cooled using the fins.Another interesting outcome was that the instructors noticed an increase in the number ofquestions regarding when – and in which courses – they would see a particular topic again. Thiswas particularly meaningful to the instructors as important instructor objectives are to getstudents motivated, interested, and prepared for their future engineering courses and ultimatelyprofessional careers.4. ConclusionsIn this paper, a design project for a

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Technical Session 2: Design in the First Year: Challenges and Successes

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Natalie C.T. Van Tyne P.E., Colorado School of Mines; M Brunhart-Lupo, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

relevance ofthose reflections towards the student’s ability to use what had been taught in the academic andprofessional setting. This grading scheme removed the higher scores that the women may havehad purely based on that most women have higher scores in English than their male counterparts.Instead, this shows that the women were benefiting more from the journal and the ability to drawconnections between the given lesson and the relevance on future assignments or career related Page 26.1740.11items.This improvement becomes more noticeable when comparing the median and mean scores asopposed to the complete table of data. In Figures 2 and 3, showing

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Pagano, Western Michigan University; Amanda Rossman, Western Michigan University; Kendall Vasilnek, Western Michigan University; Betsy Aller, Western Michigan University; Edmund Tsang, Western Michigan University; Andrew Kline, Western Michigan University; Edward Brabandt, Western Michigan University

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First-Year Programs

interested in pursuing a career in structural engineering.Kendall Vasilnek, Western Michigan University Kendall Vasilnek is a second-year student in Civil and Construction Engineering at Western Michigan University. She is a teaching assistant for first-year, at-risk students, and hopes to go into environmental engineering upon graduation.Betsy Aller, Western Michigan University Betsy M. Aller received her PhD from Michigan Technological University and is assistant professor of Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering at Western Michigan University. She teaches her department's capstone design courses and the college-wide service learning engineering design sequence, and

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bert Davy, Morgan State University; Indranil Goswami, Morgan State University; Jiang Li, Morgan State University; Gbekeloluwa Oguntimen, Morgan State University; Charles Oluokun, Morgan State University; Arcadio Sincero, Morgan State University

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First-Year Programs

engineering education–a heavy dose of rigorousmath and science during freshman and sophomore years–does not engage students’ vision of anengineering career. Freshmen students are suddenly confronted with classes that seem to havelittle relevance to the discipline. Mathematics faculty members, rather than those in engineering,usually teach math classes (Nikias, 2005). The freshman year for an engineering student is verycritical to his or her retention in the in the engineering program. There are reports in literaturethat the introduction of design in the freshman engineering course has an impact on the retentionof students in engineering program , stimulated interest in engineering among freshmen, enhancesoft skills like communication, working in

Conference Session

FPD8 -- Introductory Courses

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George List, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

usethese tools might have a long-term value for their careers. The choice of VBA was driven by asense that it might be used in practice, since Excel is so common, it is very approachable andtransparent, as in the debugging features it affords; and MATLAB was deemed valuable forresearch. In civil engineering, a strong sentiment existed that if such programming skills werecommon among the undergraduates, there would be opportunities to do new and creative thingsin upper division classes insofar as lab assignments, homework exercises, and undergraduateresearch experiences were concerned.The particulars of the current course are as follows. It is a full semester in duration, with aboutfourteen lectures in programming concepts and fourteen labs

Conference Session

FPD3 -- Professional Issues for First-Year Courses

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Light, University of Washington; Russell Korte, University Of Minnesota; Ken Yasuhara, University of Washington; Deborah Kilgore, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Page 12.725.2confidence in their intellectual and technical abilities?In this paper, we will summarize the literature on confidence, persistence, and gender inengineering, describe our methods in greater detail, introduce our findings with respect to theseresearch questions, and discuss implications for research, theory and practice.Confidence, Persistence, Performance and GenderIt is generally believed that self-confidence and persistence in higher education are positivelyrelated. For example, Burtner5 found that self-reported confidence in math and science abilityalong with the belief that an engineering degree enhances career security was a predictor of bothshort- and long-term persistence. Lack of confidence in math and science ability

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

world, (3) building a foundation to their technical presentation skills, (4) motivating them to be interested and inspired by engineering as a career, (5) making them feel part of the new academic world they are entering, and (6) allowing them to contribute to and participate in their own education1 .”As part of the implementation process, one of the Freshman Engineering 1 faculty memberscontacted the instructor who had originally developed the OME, who agreed to assist with thisprocess, provide copies of handouts, pursue cooperative research in this area, help with theassessment of the results, and to co-author this paper. This collaboration, which was one of theobjectives for presenting OME at ASEE, started a dialog on how

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Promiti Dutta, Columbia University; Alexander Haubold, Columbia University

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First-Year Programs

engineering careers in industry, government agencies and other organizations concerned with the environment and the provision of primary materials and secondary materials and energy, as well as graduate studies in related disciplines. • This course teaches the basic concepts and skills needed for the practice of Earth and Environmental Engineering, including measurement and control of material and contaminant flows through the environment, assessment of environmental impact of past, present and future industrial activities, and analysis and design of processes for remediation, recycling, and disposal of used materials. • This course ensures that the technical training of our students is based on a strong liberal arts

Conference Session

FPD9 - First Year Learning & Assessment

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Johnson, Valparaiso University; Doug Tougaw, Valparaiso University; Kenneth Leitch, Valparaiso University; Barbara Engerer, Valparaiso University

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First-Year Programs

the course, with the possible inclusion of a mastery exam.29References1. P. Blowers, “A Course on Freshman Survival Skills,” Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition (2002).2. Christopher J. Rowe, Anita Mahadevan-Jansen, “Module-based Freshman Engineering Course Development” Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition (2004).3. W. K. LeBold, H. Diefes, W. C. Oakes, “Helping First Year Students Make Critical Career Decisions,” Proceedings of the 1999 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition (1999).4. B. Engerer, M. Hagenberger, and D. Tougaw, “Revision of a First

Conference Session

FPD10 - Freshman Engineering Introduction to Design

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Montgomery, University of Michigan; Rodney Johnson, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

completed), 2 (Strong team member, got own work done and helped others when requested), 1(Completed own work only), 0 (Not a team player, seldom showed up to scheduled meetings, unprepared, or brought a negative attitude to team)Students are instructed that they will encounter this peer review process in their careers, so that itis important that they learn how to provide feedback professionally and diplomatically, and alsoto receive and learn from feedback. Each student receives copies of all evaluations about them,with the name of the evaluator kept private. These evaluations help strong team members feelappreciated for their efforts, and give weaker members an opportunity to improve theirperformance. Teaching staff review all peer

Conference Session

FPD4 - Teaching Methods for First Year Students

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Roger Parsons, University of Tennessee-Knoxville; Rachel McCord, University of Tennessee-Knoxville; J. Elaine Seat, University of Tennessee-Knoxville; Thomas Scott, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

theremainder of the curriculum. Graduation rates increased more significantly for femalestudents, and for most MBTI designations, by 4-letter type, 2-letter temperament, orsingle letter preference.Use of the MBTI in Engineering EducationThere is a substantial history of the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator inengineering education. This test, which classifies people into psychological subgroupsand is based on the theories of Carl Jung, is very popular for career counseling, workteam formation, and personal development. The summary of its use in engineeringeducation below is taken largely from our 2002 paper1. Another effective summary isgiven by Felder4. For the reader uninitiated with basic Myers-Briggs terminology anduse, a primer is attached

Conference Session

FPD9 - First Year Learning & Assessment

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joe Guarino, Boise State University; Janet Callahan, Boise State University; Seung Youn Chyung, Boise State University; Randi Walters, Boise State University; Bill Clement, Boise State University

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First-Year Programs

DelineatorTM 3, was created to benchmark the effectiveness of thesimulations and to facilitate their continuous improvement. Results indicate that students likedusing the simulations and considered them to be enjoyable learning supplements. Students alsofelt that the simulations improved their confidence to take future engineering courses and werewilling to use more simulations in their academic careers. There was no significant correlationbetween dominant learning styles of the students and their perceptions of the simulations.Therefore, adaptations based upon learning styles may not be needed for effective use ofsimulations in learning environments similar to ENGR 110.IntroductionMost Freshman engineering students at our University take Precalculus

Conference Session

The Ever-Changing Course

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gretchen Hein, Michigan Technological University; Jean Kampe, Michigan Technological University; Amber Kemppainen, Michigan Technological University

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First-Year Programs

-yearengineering program. Within this program, entering students learn basic engineering andtechnical skills that are applicable to their engineering and professional careers. Through thecompletion of the first-year engineering courses, students gain, develop, and improve their skillsin:• Teamwork• Written and oral technical communication (memos, reports, technical posters, technical Page 14.852.2 presentations, etc.)• Problem solving• Engineering design• Engineering modeling (numerical, graphical, 3-D)• Engineering analysis (data collection, analysis, description)• Computer software• Interpersonal communication with respect to teammates

Conference Session

Learning as a Community

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sondra Miller, Boise State University; Pat Pyke, Boise State University; Amy Moll, Boise State University; Melissa Wintrow, Boise State University; Cheryl Schrader, Boise State University; Janet Callahan, Boise State University

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First-Year Programs

and writing skills. Page 14.1094.4Seminar sessions included guest speakers to discuss the academic and career aspects of specificengineering disciplines, administration and interpretation of personality profile surveys to betterunderstand group dynamics, and watching and discussing documentaries dealing with topicssuch as sustainable building practices and alternative fuel transportation.Activities aimed at community building included a raft trip down the Boise River with the HealthProfessions RC immediately prior to beginning the fall 2008 semester, a bike ride along theBoise River Green Belt to explore the multi-disciplinary engineering

Conference Session

Goal Specific First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Taryn Bayles, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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First-Year Programs

, “Chemically Powered Toy Cars: A Way to Interest High School Students in a Chemical Engineering Career,” ASEE paper 2003-596. 7. Brand, J.I., “The Effective Use of Logbooks in Undergraduate Classes,” Chemical Engineering Education, vol. 33, no. 3, 1999, pp. 222-231. 8. Boyd, G. and M.F. Hassett, “Developing Critical Writing Skills in Engineering and Technology Students,” Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 89, no. 4, 2000, pp. 409-412. 9. Frolik, J. and T. Keller, “Wireless Sensor Networks: An Interdisciplinary Topic for Freshman Design,” Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, 2005. 10. Frolik, J. and M. Fortney, ‘A Low-Cost Wireless Platform for

Conference Session

Beyond the Engineering Classroom

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cindy Veenstra, Engineering education consultant

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

admitted to and matriculated into the College of Engineering.Pre-Med: this sector includes students who indicate in the CIRP survey that their most probable career choice was a physician, exclusive of the College of Engineering.STM: this sector includes all science, math and technology majors exclusive of the engineering and pre-med groups using the CIRP variable, “most probably major”.Non-STEM: this sector includes art, music, social science, business and humanities majors, using the CIRP variable, “most probable major”.Two GPAs are defined as:Overall GPA: This is referred to as the GPA (grade point average) and is the grade point average for all courses taken

Conference Session

FPD4 -- Real-World Case Studies & Projects

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ari Epstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Alberta Lipson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Rafael Bras, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Kip Hodges, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

this year. Terrascope was far and away the highlight of my first year experience. It was what gave meaning to my education in the rest of the core classes and provided a strong support community and a body of friends essential for the first years. It allowed me to find a group of students who have common environmental interest. This helps to shape my academic interest and even career path.Students who were ambivalent or negative about the class mentioned one particular theme – theworkload and time commitment. As one student said, “It was too much work compared to what alot of the freshmen had and took me away from doing work in other classes.”Project-Based TeamworkTeamwork and collaborative group problem-solving

Conference Session

FPD3 -- Professional Issues for First-Year Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sven Bilen, Pennsylvania State University; Beverly Jaeger, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

time.IntroductionIn addition to conveying engineering content, teaching first-year engineering students entails itsown specific educational issues, some of which are: (1) attracting and maintaining the students’interest and attention at a quality level, (2) helping students generate a sense of relevance Page 11.1315.2between class and engineering in the real world, (3) building a foundation to their technicalpresentation skills, (4) motivating them to be interested and inspired by engineering as a career,(5) making them feel part of the new academic world they are entering, and (6) allowing themto contribute to and participate in their own education. The OME

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Tuesday Potpourri

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

So Yoon Yoon, Texas A&M University; Mark T. Holtzapple, Texas A&M University; Bonnie J. Dunbar Ph.D., Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

X X XMechanical X X X X X X XNuclear X X X X X X XAs an integrated curriculum, the FC used engineering accounting to provide the followingbenefits for students: (a) reinforce student learning, (b) broaden understanding, (c) provide alearning framework, (d) match engineering practice, (e) link disciplines, (f) improvevisualization, (g) increase retention, (h) smooth transitions between subjects, (i) establishrelevance to engineering career, (j) decrease compartmentalization, (k) connect with learningpreferences, (l) avoid haphazard presentation, (m) develop teaming, and (n

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Paying Attention to Retention

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary E. Goodwin, University of South Florida

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Diversity

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First-Year Programs

, they get connected with career services and are provided information on how to registerfor the next semester. At this university due to space constraints, the one hour course could onlybe offered on Friday. For the fall semester, there were two sections, each made up of about 400students. One of the changes that was made was in how the communications were written whensent to students who had not completed the first assignment or had missed a class in the firstthree weeks.The first assignment in the class was for the student to meet with their advisor to go over theweekly study plan and a semester planner. Students were asked to complete this within the firstthree weeks of the semester. The purpose of this assignment was to introduce students