Conference Session

FPD VI: Presenting "All the Best" of the First-Year Programs Division

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan F. Freeman, Northeastern University; Richard Whalen, Northeastern University; Beverly K. Jaeger, Northeastern University; Stanley M. Forman, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

-assessment in most sections of the course. Students weregiven a survey early in the semester (Appendix A) that focused on their perception of engineersin society and familiarity of human service organizations (n=512). The second survey (AppendixB) was given at the end of the course, with similar questions to reveal whether there had beenany shift in attitude (n=436). Here are selected results and discussion:Table 1. Familiarity with the following human services areas, 1=not familiar Æ 5=very familiar Human services Before After Statistically significant? Housing Aid 2.27 2.63 Yes, p

Conference Session

FPD IX: Research on First-Year Programs and Students, Part II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jae Hoon Lim, University of North Carolina, Charlotte; Patricia A. Tolley, University of North Carolina, Charlotte; Kimberly Warren, University of North Carolina, Charlotte; Peter Thomas Tkacik, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

chapters.Patricia A. Tolley, University of North Carolina, CharlotteKimberly Warren, University of North Carolina, Charlotte Dr. Warren is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNC Charlotte. She con- ducts research in the area of geotechnical engineering with a specific interest in earth retaining structures designed with geosysnthtic (polymeric) materials. She conducts large, full-scale field experients that are highly instrumented to monitor and analyze the behaviors of civil engineering structures. In the past few years, Dr. Warren has also recieved funding to conduct engineering education research with the goals of 1) working in a multi-disciplinary team to increase the retention of engineering

Conference Session

FPD IV: Improving Student Success: Mentoring, Intervening, and Supplementing

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Colleen A. McDonough, Michigan State University; Daina Briedis, Michigan State University; Neeraj Buch, Michigan State University; Renée S. DeGraaf, Lansing Community College; Jon Sticklen, Michigan State University; Sarah J. Stoner, Michigan State University; Mark Urban-Lurain, Michigan State University; Claudia E. Vergara, Michigan State University; Thomas F. Wolff, Michigan State University

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First-Year Programs

in PAL sessions; and session scheduling,including times and locations.Table 1: Number of students impacted by the PAL program to date. Spring Fall Spring Fall Semester 2009 2009 2010 2010 # of students enrolled in PAL supported 149 1358 1024 1442 courses # of unique PAL participants 95 167 153 215 Page 22.1148.9 # of unique PAL participants as a 63.8% 12.3% 14.9

Conference Session

FPD IX: Research on First-Year Programs and Students, Part II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

experiences.IntroductionTraditional engineering curricula are no longer adequate for training modern-day engineers.Today’s engineers are expected to be creative, bold, technically well-versed team players to meettomorrow’s challenges in an increasingly complex and risk-averse global environment.1 Inresponse to these needs, engineering programs have begun a shift toward new curricula andpedagogies that have been demonstrated to be effective in building both technical and non-technical skills crucial to solving authentic problems in real-world environments. One such newcurricular and pedagogical practice is Project-Based Learning (PjBL). In addition to developingboth technical and non-technical skills,2-3 PjBL has been shown to develop meta-cognitiveabilities, as well as

Conference Session

FPD VIII: Crossing Bridges and Easing Transitions into the First Year

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Theodore Demetrius Caldwell, Michigan State University, Diversity Programs Office, College of Engineering; Kyle P. Foster, Diversity Programs Office, College of Engineering, Michigan State University; Tonisha Brandy Lane, Michigan State University; Rickey Alfred Caldwell Jr, Michigan State University; Claudia Elena Vergara, Michigan State University; Jon Sticklen, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

and Recruitment Coordinator (2006-2007) Diversity Programs Office, College of Engineering at Michigan State University Publications None NSF Grant Serving as Program Manager for MSU on National Science Foundation NSF 03-520; Michigan Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (MI-LSAMP); under the direction of Mary Sue Coleman, Ralph Kummler, Levi Thompson, Edmond Tsang and Thomas Wolf. This award is effective September 1, 2005 and expires September 1, 2010. Will continue in the same capacity for Phase 2 of this grant effective September 1, 2010-September 1, 2015 Other Affiliations National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates (NAMEPA) Re- gion C Chair, February 2010-present 2009

Conference Session

FPD II: Increasing Engagement and Motivation of First-Year Students

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie J. Parish, Texas A&M University; Kristi J. Shryock, Texas A&M University; Dimitris C. Lagoudas, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

discussed, as well as aresearch plan for analyzing the effectiveness of the course adjustments.IntroductionThe problem of retaining students is pervasive throughout all of the engineering disciplines.1, 2Within the aerospace community, the impact of an aging workforce is a cause for alarm withrespect to both the national economy and national security.3 Several U.S. governmentcommission reports have investigated the problem, one observing4, 5:The industry is confronted with a graying workforce in science, engineering and manufacturing,with an estimated 26 percent available for retirement within the next five years… Clearly, thereis a major workforce crisis in the aerospace industry. Our nation has lost over 600,000 scientificand technical aerospace

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barbara Elizabeth Carruthers, The Ohio State University; Paul Alan Clingan, The Ohio State University - EEIC

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Page 22.1592.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Use of FLUENT Software in a First-Year Engineering Microfluidic Design Course Carruthers, B.E. and Clingan, P.A.AbstractCurrently, the integration of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software is typically only seenin higher level courses at the undergraduate level (1) (2) (3). In this case, students are equipped withthe basics of fluid dynamics from their core classes, which allows them to focus on theimplementation of such problems and the rote mechanics of operating in the CFD environment(4) . This approach, while helpful in preparing students for industry, robs them of a

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew A. Carr, U.S. Naval Academy

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

, humanities and social science. This common coreprogram feeds to any of the Academy’s 22 academic majors. Midshipmen select their choice ofmajors in the spring of their freshman year and then commence courses in their major program inthe fall semester of their sophomore year.course designThe overall 75-hour course time budget is summarized in the table below: Topic or Subtopic Hours 1 Course Orientation and Administration 2 2 Engineering Drawing – Hand Sketching and SolidWorks 1 8 3 Intro to Thermal Fluids w/ Lab 5 4 Intro to Mechanics w/ Lab 5

Conference Session

FPD VI: Presenting "All the Best" of the First-Year Programs Division

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chris Smaill, University of Auckland; Gerard Rowe, University of Auckland; Lawrence J. Carter, University of Auckland

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

the largest ever reported foreducational interventions”8.The learning improvements delivered by formative assessment persist even when studentsrather than the instructor carry out the assessment. In fact, in some situations considerablegains can be made by replacing instructor assessment with peer assessment. Gibbs9 describesa compulsory second-year engineering course where the format was two lectures and onetutorial a week. At the tutorial students worked on problem sheets which were marked bylecturers and handed back each week. The average exam mark (Table 1) was 55%. Numbersincreased and the lecturers no longer had time to mark the problems. The average exam markwent down to 45%. In an effort to restore standards, peer assessment was

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Byron L Newberry, Oklahoma Christian University; Cory R. Davis, Oklahoma Christian University; Robert Andrew Stevenson, Oklahoma Christian University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

rewritten to integrate the LEGO Mindstorms® NXT robotics kitaddresses trigonometry. This modified assignment requires students to navigate a maze ofknown configuration using the autonomous robot shown in Figure 1. This robot, equipped withtreads, effectively rotates about a point allowing precise turns. This ability is critical if thestudents are to effectively use trigonometry to compute a path through the maze that will miss allobstacles.The students begin by first calibrating both the linear and rotational motion of the robot. Thiscalibration process, implemented using the LEGO MINDSTORMS® NXT-G programminglanguage, is accomplished by systematically determining the duration the motors must beactivated to move a specific distance and to turn a

Conference Session

FPD VIII: Crossing Bridges and Easing Transitions into the First Year

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Janet Callahan, Boise State University; Judith A. Garzolini, Boise State University; Gary LeRoy Hunt, Boise State University; Joe Guarino, Boise State University; Doug Bullock, Boise State University; Susan Shadle, Boise State University; Cheryl B. Schrader, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) retention efforts at Boise State. She functions on campus as both the project coordinator for a $1 million grant from the Na- tional Science Foundation and the Idaho Science Talent Expansion Program (STEP), and as the first ever campus coordinator for STEM retention. Garzolini has a long term professional interest in increasing the participation and success of students in STEM fields. Throughout her career, she has provided extensive professional leadership and service to the Society of Women Engineers at the national level, and in 2007 was national society president. Garzolini has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Wayne State University and an MBA from UC

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

) students at Portland State University bought a copy of the Arduino Inventor’s Kit thatincludes an Arduino and a variety of electrical components and sensors sufficient for much of thecurriculum described in this paper 24. Figure 1 shows the 2009 version of the Arduino called theDuemilanove (“2009” in Italian). Features identified in the Figure 1 are described in Table 1. The Arduino platform has excellent technical performance, especially considering its lowcost. The A/D components can read up to 7 channels of data at speeds sufficient for a broadrange of applications. It has 14 channels for digital input or output, which enables control oflogic (on/off) signals. Five of the digital output channels can be configured for pulse-widthmodulation

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fahmida Masoom, University of Wisconsin, Platteville; Abulkhair Masoom, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

would really examine where the difficulty was coming from and seek help toaddress the issues. Since many states require only two years of math for high school graduation[1] , students were asked about the highest level math class they had taken in high school and howlong before they entered college they had taken the last math course. They were also asked abouttheir ACT math score, math placement score, their first math course in college, if they had torepeat any math courses in college and what were the biggest challenges in the first math coursein college. Finally, students were asked about their confidence and performance/satisfaction levelin the courses in which they were currently enrolled.The results of this survey are expected to

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

Engineering & Computing at Grand Valley State University. Page 22.555.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Embedding Lifelong Learning Skills into a First-Year Engineering Course through Introduction of an Independent Research Project and Information Literacy Skills1. IntroductionThe ABET, Inc. (ABET) criteria for accrediting engineering programs requires that a programhave documented evidence that engineering graduates demonstrate a recognition of the need for,and the ability to engage in lifelong learning, identified as program outcome „i‟.[1] As

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Byron L. Newberry, Oklahoma Christian University of Science and Arts; Richard Miller, Oklahoma Christian University of Science and Arts; Robert Andrew Stevenson, Oklahoma Christian University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

-levelengineering courses. A shocking percentage of these students do not make it to their second yearwithin their chosen engineering discipline, either switching majors or leaving the universityentirely. Dr. Nathan Klingbeil of Wright State University first observed that, traditionally, only42% of engineering or computer science majors at Wright State advance beyond first-yearcalculus classes to seek their degrees 1. Thus, in an effort to improve student retention, in 2004WSU under the care of Dr. Klingbeil developed a mathematics education model which is Page 22.585.2designed to incorporate a new introductory math course into the engineering curriculum

Conference Session

FPD IV: Improving Student Success: Mentoring, Intervening, and Supplementing

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dianne Raubenheimer, North Carolina State University; Jerome P. Lavelle, North Carolina State University; Monica Terrell Leach, North Carolina State University; Steven L. White, North Carolina State University ; Philip Albert Moses, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

teach study and learning skills in the form of programs. A review of theretention literature also shows that when colleges address the issue programmatically, they havea positive effect on students’ persistence. A major objective of retention programs is to booststudents’ academic skills while also helping to develop important social networks5. To furtherexplain, Tinto identifies three principles for institutions to consider when implementing effectiveretention programs6. Effective retention programs are committed to: (1) The students they serve. They put student welfare ahead of other institutional goals. (2) The education of all, not some, of their students. (3) The development of supportive social and educational

Conference Session

FPD I: Attacking the Problems of Retention in the First Year

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alan D. Niemi, LeTourneau University; Robert W. Warke, LeTourneau University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

define the terminology that will be usedthroughout this report. Definitions given here are consistent with those used in the 2006 ASEEconference paper ―The Role of Academic Performance in Engineering Attrition‖:1  Cohort: A group of students who entered the School of Engineering and Engineering Technology (SEET) during the same academic year.  FTIAC: Students who entered LETU on a ―First Time In Any College‖ basis. These may have previously acquired college credit from dual enrollment or advanced placement courses, but they did not transfer from another university.  Graduation Rate: The percentage of students who entered the SEET as FTIACs and then graduated with a SEET degree (not necessarily in the major in

Conference Session

FPD IV: Improving Student Success: Mentoring, Intervening, and Supplementing

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frederick L. Smyth, University of Virginia; William H Guilford, University of Virginia; Brian A. Nosek, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 First year engineering students are strikingly impoverished in their self-concept as professional engineersRecruitment to and retention of students in engineering programs and engineering careers isproblematic. While the number varies considerably by institution, nationally a third of studentsdrop out of science and engineering undergraduate programs by their second year; only a thirdcomplete their science or engineering degree by six years. Students intending a science orengineering major in their freshman year often switch to other academic departments, andapproximately 20 percent drop out of college altogether 1.Recruitment and retention of women in engineering

Conference Session

FPD 3: Research on First-year Programs and Students, Part I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Diana Quinn, University of South Australia; Elizabeth J. Smith, University of South Australia; Syed Mahfuzul Aziz, University of South Australia

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

collapse of compulsory student unionism in Australia in 2006 there are fewer social orsporting activities available to students on our suburban campus and less opportunity to formfriendships.To help commencing engineering students transition smoothly into university life; a space wascreated at the Mawson Lakes Campus for them to study, do group work, and develop peernetworks. It was conceived as a space that would enhance students’ social and learningengagement by giving them a sense of community and belonging. The space became operationalin 2009 and is called the Experience 1 Studio. This space is open plan with a flexible layout.Apart from individual or group study and project work students use the space in a variety ofways, for example, to

Conference Session

FPD IX: Research on First-Year Programs and Students, Part II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicole R. Weber, Purdue University; Melissa Dyehouse, Purdue University; Constance A Harris, Purdue University; Ray David, Purdue University; Jun Fang, Purdue University; Inez Hua, Purdue University; Johannes Strobel, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

keeper concepts)of first-year engineering students towards the relationship between environment/ecology andengineering.This project was guided by the following research questions: (1) What is the knowledge andattitude level of first-year engineering students in regards to environmental and ecological issues,in particular pertaining to environmental issues and their relation to engineering? (2) What arethe baseline threshold or gatekeeper concepts of first-year students and how will a sustainableengineering module affect these baseline concepts, concepts that help students to transformexisting knowledge of the relationship between environmental issues and engineering into deeperconceptual understanding?Literature Review: Sustainable

Conference Session

FPD XI: Assessing First-Year Programs, Experiences, and Communities

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marie C. Paretti, Virginia Tech; Kelly J. Cross, Virginia Tech University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

satisfactionreports coupled with final course grades or retention rates or student-reported learning gainscoupled with faculty perceptions.Implications and ConclusionsThe preceding review of approaches to assessment point to two significant issues facingengineering educators concerned with first year programs.1. Outcomes surrounding retention and support for success currently dominate theliterature.The dominance of these issues suggests that they represent one clear point of consensus amongfirst year educators with respect to course goals and desired outcomes. Retention itself is oneclearly identifiable metric, though approaches to measurement (self-reports versus institutionaldata) vary slightly. Approaches to satisfaction and motivation, however, are more

Conference Session

FPD XI: Assessing First-Year Programs, Experiences, and Communities

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patricia R. Backer, San Jose State University; Emily L. Allen, San Jose State University; Janet Sundrud, San Jose State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

campuses (see Figures 1 and 2). While six-year graduation rates at theUniversity are disappointing, the rates for African American (38.7%) and Latino (39.9%) malesare truly dismaying and unacceptable. The retention and six-year graduation rate in the Collegeof Engineering is even lower than the university overall, particularly for African American andLatino students.As a result of an examination and reflection on the causes of the low retention and graduationrates, the College established the 15x12 Initiative, with the goal of increasing our graduation rate15% by the year 2012. We decided to focus on improving the effectiveness of our first-yearexperience (FYE) programs, as well to complete a major overhaul of our advising systems andmethods. This

Conference Session

FPD IX: Research on First-Year Programs and Students, Part II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Xiang Gong, Beihang University, Beijing, Institute of Higher Education; Monica E. Cardella, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Qing Lei, Beihang University, Beijing

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

another part of the world, China is promoting its rapid and sustained economic growthpresently. Stimulated by the growing economy and developing industrial market, China’sengineering education has become the world’s largest in scale. Engineering undergraduateenrollment has reached 6.72 million in 2009, contributing 35.6% to the whole enrollmentnumber6. Within this context, engineering honors programs have been launched in succession byChinese top engineering-oriented universities and institutions with the support from China’sMinistry of Education and China Academy of Engineering, in order to educate undergraduateengineering honors students. Examples of the ongoing programs are listed in Table 1:Table 1: Examples of Engineering Honors Programs in

Conference Session

FPD 3: Research on First-year Programs and Students, Part I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Odis Hayden Griffin Jr. P.E., East Carolina University; Sandie J. Griffin

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

2 2 2 2 2 1

Conference Session

FPD I: Attacking the Problems of Retention in the First Year

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Arturo A Fuentes, University of Texas, Pan American; Horacio Vasquez, University of Texas, Pan American; Robert A. Freeman, University of Texas, Pan American

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

provides a framework for CBI and the design of associated learning activities14. Page 22.471.3The cycle is illustrated in figure 1 and it is briefly described next10. The legacy cycle containssteps or activities that appeal to different learning styles13 and most of those activities alignthemselves nicely with key phases of the engineering design process15. Figure 1. Legacy Cycle and Engineering Design ProcessThe LC consists of the process followed to solve challenges that are designed to motivate andengage students in learning activities. In the LC, the following steps are performed and repeated:Look AheadThe learning task

Conference Session

Research on The First Year II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Catherine Pieronek, University of Notre Dame; Kerry Meyers, University of Notre Dame; Sara Skiles, University of Notre Dame; Sean Kelly, University of Notre Dame; Leo McWilliams, University of Notre Dame

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

theorist Jeffrey Arnett explains, through the American college system,“young Americans are able to keep their work options open for a long time as they try outdifferent college majors before choosing a specific direction,”1 and delay their transition toadulthood. A student’s choice of an academic field of study relates to career goals and, in manyregards, to the student’s identity development as it pertains to a student’s level of exploration ofand commitment to a certain path.2,3 Some entering first-year college students have already fullyexplored their options and are committed to a certain career path, while others are still grappling Page

Conference Session

Design in the First Year

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Noelle Comolli, Villanova University; William Kelly, Villanova University; Qianhong Wu, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

problems, which are open-ended, with more than one solution,to freshman[1]. Most freshman still learn by acquiring knowledge from the teacher, assumingthat all knowledge is a collection of facts that are right or wrong[2]. Therefore asking them toachieve the next leaving of learning that is required of engineering design is not an easy task. Felder and Silverman in their paper “Learning and Teaching Styles in EngineeringEducation” nicely laid out the need for a teaching style that benefits the majority of engineeringstudents involves some hands-on and reflective activity, not just lecture[3]. Active learning,especially problem based learning, has been shown effective at increasing student interest incourses, and improving their retention of

Conference Session

Research on The First Year II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Melissa Dagley-Falls, University of Central Florida; Michael Georgiopoulos, University of Central Florida; Cynthia Young, University of Central Florida

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

and the Naval Research Laboratory investigating atmospheric propagation in the marine environment. Page 15.734.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Influencing Sense of Community in a STEM Living-Learning CommunityIntroductionThe STEM pipeline continues to shrink. Called a “quiet crisis”, 1 the effects of the shrinking poolwill only be felt “in fifteen to twenty years, when we discover we have a critical shortage ofscientists and engineers capable of doing innovation…” (Jackson in Friedman, p. 253). Importantto this crisis, K-12 students are much less interested in science and engineering than in the pastand are

Conference Session

Research on The First Year II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nancy O'Connor, Villanova University; Gerard Jones, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

.”1 Harvard University andUniversity of Virginia researchers, after examining the question of whether students who hadtaken AP courses in high school performed as well in college as AP advocates said they should,concluded that “doing well in an Advanced Placement science course in high school does notguarantee that a student will do equally well in an introductory college-level course in the samesubject.”2A study at Notre Dame University examined the question of how students with AP credit forcalculus compared with students who arrived at the university without having had the APcalculus experience. “In Calculus III, those students who arrived with AP credit for the first twocalculus courses outperformed those students who took Calculus I and

Conference Session

Research on the First Year I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Javarro Russell, James Madison University; Olga Pierrakos, James Madison University; Megan France, James Madison University; Ronald Kander, James Madison University; Robin Anderson, James Madison University; Heather Watson, James Madison University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

projects that constitutes PBL practice. The lack of integration is furtherdiminished by the deficit of assessment studies used to describe the efficacy of the PBL inassisting students in achieving learning outcomes. With a focus on a PBL-based freshmanengineering course, in this paper we present: (1) The novel use of a PBL classification framework grounded on dimensions of structuredness, complexity, and team environment. (2) Assessment strategies for analyzing the alignment between the PBL learning experiences and the intended student learning outcomes. (3) The classification and assessment of a freshman PBL project focused on reverse engineering a hand-held mixer. (4) Suggestions on how PBL projects such as the