encourage completion of a baccalaureateengineering degree in the traditional time frame. To accomplish the goal of integrating the students through academic and social supports,the proposed action plan was to implement program activities through two strategies. The firststrategy was to develop a set of student support activities that included academic, financial, andsocial components that would facilitate mentoring, community building, and retention. Second,internship opportunities were to be developed to enhance career development and post-graduatecareer preparation. However, a selection of the student support activities became non-operational. This was due in large part to the different needs that transfer students bring withthem to the
, in road construction, and this work began her environmentally focused ca- reer path. She served as a Chemical Engineer at the Office of Mobile Sources of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Ann Arbor, Mich., from 1987-1989 and as a Senior Project Leader in International Regulations at General Motors Corporation in Warren, Mich., from 1989-1991. She subsequently pursued her Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan from 1991-1998, under the mentorship of Dr. Peter Adriaens and Dr. Jeremy Semrau, and her dissertation topic focused on bioreme- diation and oxidation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by methane-oxidizing bacteria. Lindner began her academic career at UF
numerous benefits received from enrollment in a LC. Most notably,they report the following 5: 1. Making connections with other students, peer mentors, faculty, and advisors, 2. Academic advising (e.g., knowledgeable, available when needed assistance), 3. Experiencing environment that promotes and respects diversity, 4. Becoming familiar with campus and academic support resources, 5. Deciding on a major or future career, 6. Adjusting to college. The Summer Bridge (SB) program is a specific type of LC intended to bridge the gapbetween high school and college. The intensive 2 week SB program, developed as an additionalsupport for incoming, first year students, provides a high-impact, high-touch experience tostudents in a major
place, this is an assumption worth examining. Ourstudy aims to address this need by investigating pre-major undergraduates’ perceptions ofmajoring in CSE and of the career paths they associate with it.This paper presents a selection of findings from an interview-based, qualitative study ofprospective CSE majors at a large research university. This research primarily aims to detail therange of student perceptions about CSE, rather than to make broadly generalizable claims.However, the responses exhibit some patterns in beliefs about and interest in majoring in CSE.We focus here on findings most likely to inform efforts to recruit, support, and retain CSEmajors into and through their first year of undergraduate study. Many of the
AC 2011-534: USE OF A PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE SIMULATION INA FIRST YEAR INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING COURSENaomi C. Chesler, University of Wisconsin, Madison Naomi C. Chesler is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering with an affiliate appointment in Educational Psychology. Her research interests include vascular biomechanics, hemodynamics and cardiac function as well as the factors that motivate students to pursue and persist in engineering careers, with a focus on women and under-represented minorities.Cynthia M D’Angelo, University of Wisconsin - Madison Cynthia D’Angelo, Ph.D. has a background in physics and science education. She has always been inter- ested in improving science instruction and most
andmaking presentations, all while working as a part of a team. This project was designed to meetmany of the course objectives as well as to develop skills that will be needed in many of theirfuture engineering classes.This paper presents an overview of the project and individual assignments as well as theoutcomes and feedback from the students that participated in the project. The plans for furthermodifications and improvements to this project and assignments will also be presented.IntroductionThe Introduction to Engineering course at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) is a one creditcourse that is designed to be an introduction to engineering as a career. It discusses the majorfields of engineering and the typical responsibilities of an
within a curriculum. Adelman (op cit) reports that among men and women who indicatedengineering/architecture as their intended field, 54.3% of men and 21.3% of women earnedbachelor’s degrees in their intended field. He also shows that engineering attracts a relativelyhigh percentage of students who have a constant vision of their career goals and a low percentageof students who have a constantly changing vision.Kroc, et al4 considered graduation rates across university curricula using data for 130,000students from 44 universities. They considered graduation rates as a function of major, notingtrends in transfers between majors, considering in-migrants, or those who transfer intoengineering from another field and out-migrants, engineering
or four-year higher educational institution.Now they must learn to be students within their new environment as they work to fully engagewith their studies [4]. However, differences in both technical and non-technical courserequirements may produce a “transfer shock”, resulting in lower grades during the first semester[4]. If transfer shock persists, it can lead to academic disengagement through a questioning ofcompetence for one’s chosen major program or career path as a result of receiving poor grades[16].Two-year transfer students had attended a two-year institution prior to transfer, while four-yeartransfer students had attended a four-year institution. While both two-year and four-year studentsmay experience transfer shock at their new
a Mathematician and Computer Systems Analyst for the U. S. Department of Energy as well as more than 25 years of experience teaching mathematics, statistics, computer science, and first-year engineering courses in higher education institutions. Currently, she leads a team of faculty who are dedicated to providing first year engineering students with a high- quality, challenging, and engaging educational experience with the necessary advising, mentoring, and academic support to facilitate their transition to university life and to prepare them for success in their engineering discipline majors and future careers. American c Society for Engineering
EduGuide systems.As a key component of our work in STEMGROW [4], this technology-driven application is anevidence-based online training program aimed at strengthening non-cognitive, core learningskills for students from middle schools to college grade level. It is introduced as acommunications mechanism to facilitate mentoring and grow student awareness and mindset.Supported by Duckworth’s research, EduGuide [2] asserts that: “A student’s level of grit — the measurable ability to focus on long term goals and overcome obstacles along the way — is a better predictor of success in school and careers than IQ.”EduGuide is a comprehensive nonprofit program that includes: A web-based app students and staff
specificallyaddressed in this study but it should be noted that females dropped from 21.3% to 13.6% ofundergraduate engineering students from 2002 to 2012 and minorities increased from 18.4% to20.8%. Most of the growth was in the Hispanic population. However, even with theseconfounding factors, it is still useful to understand the impact of ENGR 10 on their attitudesabout engineering and self-efficacy.For comparison purposes, this study used the same pre-post assessment used in 20029 to evaluatestudent gains in knowledge of course components, as well as gains in attitudes and knowledgeabout engineering as a career. The survey is based on the Pittsburgh Freshman EngineeringAttitudes Survey (PFEAS) developed at University of Pittsburgh12. Students were asked to
the major and the profession.Although they were more likely to believe that engineers are more concerned with improving thewelfare of society than other professions, they were less likely to believe that the future benefitsof studying engineering were worth the effort. They also had a less favorable view ofengineering professionalism, and they were less likely to be interested in engineering as a career.These results suggest that some freshman students started to re-consider the value of engineeringdegree during the first semester as they realized the demanding engineering curriculum and highlevel commitment required of them. However, by the end of the semester, 88% of the studentsstill liked engineering as a career. The follow-up qualitative
from those impacting urban poor. While both groups of students must tackle financial,academic, and social barriers to achieving a STEM degree, geographic isolation impacts the ruralpoor in particular ways that can affect their academic careers. PTG seeks to better understand thesebarriers and to tailor academic and social support initiatives so that these students may thrive incollege. This section summarizes what is known about rural, low-income STEM students, howexisting retention initiatives may be adapted to support these students, and how PTG maycontribute to this knowledge base.Rural Arkansas continues to struggle economically, which has greatly limited K-12 academicofferings for its students. Urban migration has meant an eroding tax
with novel silicon and post-silicon devices, and low power digital and mixed-signal CMOS circuit design.Dr. Sudarshan T. Kurwadkar, California State University, Fullerton Dr. Sudarshan Kurwadkar is a Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at California State University, Fullerton. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and a Board-Certified En- vironmental Engineer. During his academic career, he has received numerous awards, scholarships, and fellowships. He won the Teaching Excellence Award, 2018 Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activ- ities Award, Faculty Advisor of Distinction 2020, 2019 ASCE Outstanding Faculty Advisor in the State of California, and 2020 L. Donald Shield Award for
standards. Literature review showsthat academic success is linked to secondary education GPA and SAT or ACT scores.Literature review also suggests student success in engineering can be based on studentdemographics. These programs focus on students from primarily low income, under-represented ethnic backgrounds, and gender. These academic programs are somewhatremedial intended to improve student academic performance for success. Third, there arepre-engineering programs developed to improve student awareness as to the types ofengineering professions available through career exploration. These academic programs givestudents exposure to different disciplines such that they can decide what course of study isof interest. All of the information on STEM
participation in engineering education. He is a Research Scientist and Lecturer in the School of Engineering at Stanford University and teaches the course ME310x Product Management and ME305 Statistics for Design Researchers. Mark has extensive background in consumer products management, having managed more than 50 con- sumer driven businesses over a 25-year career with The Procter & Gamble Company. In 2005, he joined Intuit, Inc. as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer and initiated a number of consumer package goods marketing best practices, introduced the use of competitive response modeling and ”on- the-fly” A|B testing program to qualify software improvements. Mark is the Co-Founder and Managing
students become clear about whether engineering (and Mechanical Engineering in particular) is a desirable career?Before we discuss the survey, we describe the curriculum and the history of enrollment in thefreshman engineering course sequence.CurriculumLiving with the Lab (LWTL) is a project-based, hands-on curriculum for first year engineeringstudents. The overall approach is consistent with recommendations for improving engineeringeducation 4,5,6 . The only mathematical prerequisite is college-level algebra. No prior experiencewith computer programming is required. At Louisiana Tech, all freshman engineering studentsare required to take the LWTL curriculum. At Portland State, only Mechanical Engineeringstudents are required to take the LWTL
described through this metaphoricframework. Our students instruct the new collegians to: • set the college stage early by knowing their desired major and being adequately prepared to pursue that major; • engage a supporting cast of peers, patrons and programs to become thoroughly involved in their academic careers; • accept the role of director by assuming academic responsibility including improving time management and study habits, and • anticipate and overcome critic’s reviews in the form of external grades and internal doubts.The data suggest differences in advice given by male and female students and students fromdifferent classifications (i.e., lower division students versus upper division students
; specifically, an increase in interestpredicted which students remained in engineering. In a 2011 study conducted with SSoE students[38], students from a freshman cohort were instructed to respond to nine different factors (i.e.potential barriers) and rank the top three they considered when deciding on what career to pursue.The interest factor/barrier was selected as #1 by the highest percentage of students and was presentin the top three for the highest percentage of students. Another SSoE study in 2016 [39], wasexclusively focused on the effects interest in engineering had on first-year retention. Out of the topthree factors/barriers students picked to study engineering (interest in engineering, job availability,and good pay), interest in engineering
field trials.Also covered are lessons learned from the field trials, the revision process, and plans fordisseminating the module to partner universities in the future.BackgroundBiogeotechnics is a rapidly emerging branch of geotechnical engineering that focuses on learningfrom nature to help address engineering challenges. Although many freshman engineeringstudents may have already decided to pursue one of the main branches of engineering (e.g.,mechanical, electrical, civil, or chemical), many are still exploring the sub-fields andspecializations within each branch (Shamma & Purasinghe, 2015). Exposing undergraduates toresearch being conducted in biogeotechnics, along with various career options available, whichare often dependent upon
(Jan 1, 2015 – Dec 31, 2018) with the goals of producing significant improvements infreshman and sophomore retention rates in Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering,Engineering Technology, Mathematics and Physics and increasing the number of female,Hispanic and African American students completing undergraduate degrees in these STEMfields.The funded NSF - IUSE project comprises the following strategies and supporting activities:1. Improve instruction by (a) establishing a STEM education active learning faculty summerinstitute and quarterly brown bag and (b) redesigning introductory CS courses.2. Establish early and motivating field-of-study and career explorations for students through a)Summer Orientation Sessions for first-year STEM
under-represented minority groups.Dr. Mark Tufenkjian, California State University, Los Angeles Dr. Tufenkjian is Chair of the Civil Engineering Department at Cal. State LA. His research interests include advanced geotechnical laboratory testing and in-situ testing of soft clay soils. His research has been funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Department of Defense. He is currently the PI on a STEM grant from ONR to provide engineering students pathways to careers at Navy Labs in the southern California region.Dr. Emily L. Allen, California State University, Los Angeles Emily L. Allen, Ph.D., is Dean of the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology at California State University, Los
Paper ID #7410Building the Whole Engineer: An Integrated Academic and Co-CurricularFirst-Year ExperienceDr. S. Patrick Walton, Michigan State University S. Patrick Walton received his B.ChE. from Georgia Tech, where he began his biomedical research career in the Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. He then attended MIT where he earned his M.S. and Sc.D. while working jointly with researchers at the Shriners Burns Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. While at MIT, he was awarded a Shell Foundation Fellowship and was an NIH Biotechnology Predoctoral Trainee. Upon completion of his doctoral studies, he joined
as to thecontent of their coursework and neither of these goals are easily met in large-format courses thatserve all majors [6].Students desire a community of peers and faculty as well as a sense of belonging [7] within theirmajor. Belonging can be developed in many ways, but a core piece of belonging is knowing whatyou belong to. When students understand what they are studying, they can connect their input(academic effort) to an output (degree attainment, career) that reflects their values and self-identity now and, in the future, [8]. A large contributing factor to programs not being able to helpstudents make connections is a lack of major-specific courses available where students can findand spend structured time with peers/faculty in
Successful Engineering Careers,” sponsored by NSF DUE.Dr. Manuel A. Jimenez, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus Dr. Jimenez is a professor at the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department in the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez (UPRM). He earned his B.S from Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo, Do- minican Republic in 1986, M.S. from Univ. of Puerto Rico Mayaguez in 1991, and Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1999. His current teaching and research interests include design, characterization, and rapid prototyping of information processing systems, embedded cyber-physical systems, and engineering education. He is the lead author of the textbook Introduction to Embedded Systems: Using Microcon
tracked for five semestersbeyond.Foundationally, this engineering major discernment study is theoretically founded in SocialCognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to consider students decisions14-15. SCCT is used to evaluate thegoals, outcomes expectations, and self-efficacy beliefs14. An engineering education based studyon engineering major discernment used SCCT by VanDeGrift and Lao reported that courseprojects, faculty advisory interactions, and other laboratory experiences were influential inengineering major selection. The current study expects to reveal that other targeted courseexperiences would likewise influence students16.Research Questions: 1. How effective is the engineering informed decision making module at meeting its intended goals
expectations may result in more instability than most haveexperienced in their young lives. Students who do not swiftly recognize their deficiencies andadapt to more effective habits and tools may perform poorly in their classes, leading to low firstsemester GPAs. This in turn may cause them to question their career choice and doubt theirability to successfully complete the engineering program. Such negative self-belief could resultin a low retention rate for the College of Engineering. To help address these problems, the on-line Boot Camp program is designed to help students improve perseverance, math readiness, andspatial visualization. It also helps them adjust to campus life, set realistic academic expectations,choose or confirm their choice of
increase theretention and graduation rates. A variety of strategies, including revision of teaching methodsand redesign of traditional classes are being implemented to improve freshmen experience as awhole. A recent nationwide survey by Brannan and Wankat10 indicate that more than two-thirdsof the engineering programs have a first-year introductory course to motivate students. Whilehelping students choose a career path has been a traditional goal 11, 12 , most such courses nowinclude computational tools 9, 13 and hands-on design projects 14-20 that emphasize activelearning.Unfavorable nationwide trends, particularly the declining graduation rates prompted the Collegeof Engineering (COE) to undertake a major initiative to improve retention. Current
Assessment (i2e2a). She ob- tained a B.S. in mathematics from Spelman College, a M.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Alabama, and a Ph.D. in Leadership and Policy Studies from Peabody College of Vanderbilt Univer- sity. Her teaching interests relate to the professional development of graduate engineering students and to leadership, policy, and change in STEM education. Primary research projects explore the preparation Page 24.302.1 of graduate students for diverse careers and the development of reliable and valid engineering education assessment tools. She is a NSF Faculty Early Career (CAREER
University and Assistant Dean for Student Advancement and Program Assessment in the College of Engineering. Dr. Briedis is involved in several areas of education research including student retention, curriculum redesign, and the use of technology in the classroom. She has been involved in NSF-funded research in the areas of integration of computation in engineering curricula and in developing comprehensive strategies to retain early engineering students. She is active nationally and internationally in engineering accreditation and is a Fellow of ABET, ASEE, and AIChE.Dr. S. Patrick Walton, Michigan State University S. Patrick Walton received his B.ChE. from Georgia Tech, where he began his biomedical research career in