Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Professional Skill Development

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

María del Carmen Garcia-Higuera, Universidad Panamericana; Rocio Chavez-Telleria, Universidad Panamericana; Armando Alemán-Juárez, Universidad Panamericana ; Isabel Joaquina Niembro García P.E., Universidad Panamericana

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Paper ID #25457Improving Student Retention and Soft Skills: Faculty Experiences on Transi-tioning to Active Learning Approaches on First-Year Engineering Programsat Universidad PanamericanaDr. Mar´ıa del Carmen Garcia-Higuera, Universidad Panamericana Carmen Villa is the director for the Center for Innovation in Education at Universidad Panamericana. She teaches courses at the College of Engineering and at the School of Pedagogy. She received a B.Sc. degree in computer science engineering from Tec de Monterrey in Mexico City; a D.E.A. in computer science form the INPG in Grenoble, France; and a Phd.D. in educational

Conference Session

FPD IX: Research on First-year Programs Part III

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stanley M. Forman, Northeastern University; Susan F. Freeman, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

,undocumented values, ethics and beliefs they acquire while at school, that is, the lessons fromthe Unwritten Syllabus. These other skills, frequently described as soft skills, are often discussedby both teachers and human resource personnel for employers.7 This set of soft skills, such aspersonal accountability and greater work ethic, is not subject to defined teaching methods. Thereare clearly benefits to acquisition of these skills, but it has been a challenge to describe themethods and techniques used to achieve success in these skills and the list of these skills variesfrom source to source. The Unwritten Syllabus may encompass skills such as intellectualcuriosity, caring for others, ability to overcome obstacles and more. In addition, many of

Conference Session

FPD 9: First-Year Engineering Courses, Part III: Research, Sustainability, and Professionalism

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stanley M. Forman, Northeastern University; Susan F Freeman, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

skills are deemed lacking and also to know student attitudesand perceptions to effectively devise teaching methods that will enhance skills whilesimultaneously shifting attitudes to match situational reality. The results will be drawn from asurvey of freshman having just begun their undergraduate engineering studies at a major urbanUniversity.BackgroundTo both identify the key soft skills perceived to be important and not currently being learned bythe students and to then codify classroom techniques for enhancing these skills, a multistepapproach for this investigation was started.1 A multistep approach is used because each stepdirects the next, and although these are seen as the steps now in our plan, our research may alterthese. The steps are

Conference Session

First-year Programs: Professional Development and Skills

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Olukemi Akintewe, University of South Florida; Jonathan Elliot Gaines, University of South Florida; Anna Maria Bateman, University of South Florida; Lynn Chisholm, University of South Florida

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

students for successful careers inengineering by developing essential soft skills. This paper reports the approach taken to improvean engineering course by incorporating a PD component. This is a 3-credit first-year engineeringfoundations laboratory course, which focuses on the fundamentals of design processes. In its firstiteration, over 500 first-year students performed three sequential assignments to complete themodule. These students methodically engaged in a career readiness process within a program thatdocuments achievement while promoting their academic growth. The intent is to presentprofessional contexts as part of their undergraduate experience.The PD module in this course is initiated by students’ automatic enrollment in the

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Unique Projects & Pedagogies

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Jaskirat Sodhi, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Ashish D. Borgaonkar, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Ludvik Alkhoury, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Nicole Bosca

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

) software, making the partswith 3D printers, creating an Arduino code to control the action of their device, and finallywriting a voice interface (given a skeleton code) to actuate the servo motors on the device usingvoice commands. For example, students use voice to turn a fan on or off, change its speed, andenable oscillation.Ours is a unique approach towards not only integrating new emerging technology into theclassroom but also finding new ways to engage students and help them learn new skills. Uponcompletion of this pilot, students are expected to have expanded their technical knowledge aswell as soft skills such as communication, collaboration, and listening skills. They will havelearned how to personalize Voice technology, and the

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Engineering in the First-Year

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Huihui H Wang, Jacksonville University; Festus Ogbaisi, Jacksonville University; Martins Slaboh, Jacksonville University; Emre Selvi, Jacksonville University; Maria Javaid, Jacksonville University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs, Multidisciplinary Engineering

department, we have more students in ME thanin EE. However, it is imperative for all students to have the basics of EE in order to work on therobotic projects. In this case, we mix students from two programs together in the engineeringorientation course. “What topics should be covered in this course?” is always a question and achallenge for the instructors. After 3-year practices and continuous improvements, we decide tocover not only the basics of ME and EE but also diverse soft skills trainings especially theproject management trainings. Three teaching assistants (two juniors from EE and one juniorfrom ME) are assisting a professor in the lab sections. This paper studies the outcomes of severalactivities such as the ethics debates, self-identities

Conference Session

FPD6 - First Year Curricula Development

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gregory Wight, Norwich University; R. Danner Friend, Norwich University; Jacques Beneat, Norwich University; William Barry, Norwich University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

design process Page 13.1009.2through project-based instruction with a blend of technical skills and non-technical or so-called“soft” skills. At the time of the writing of this paper, the first semester course, EG109, had beencompleted, and EG110 had just begun. The objective of this paper is to describe thedevelopment, design, and first year implementation of the course.After six years of discipline-specific freshman engineering courses for Civil Engineering,Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering majors, it was decided that all Engineeringand Construction Management majors would share the same curriculum during their freshmanyear. The

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Technical Session 11: Curricular and Program Innovations

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Reeping, Ohio Northern University; Kenneth J Reid, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

werereorganized to better suit the renaming. It was deemed unnecessary to explicitly list each of theGrand Challenges individually. During the data analysis, it became clear that if coverage of theGrand Challenges was included, they were typically taken as a unit. Topics related to theNational Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges were collapsed under one outcome,namely “Grand Challenges” (GLIN I.0.0). Page 26.6.3(2) Latent Curriculum/Soft Skills (SOFT) was appropriately renamed as Professional Skills /Latent Curriculum (PROF) due to the negative perception of the term “soft skills.” None of theoutcomes in the category were changed.(3) Academic

Conference Session

First Year Programs Division Poster Session: The Best Place to Really Talk about First-Year Education

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicole Lynn Larson, University of Calgary; Genevieve Hoffart, University of Calgary; Tom O'Neill, University of Calgary; Marjan Eggermont, University of Calgary; William Daniel Rosehart P.Eng., University of Calgary; Bob Brennan, University of Calgary

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

assessment. He is director of the Individual and Team Performance Lab and the Virtual Team Performance, Innovation, and Collaboration Lab at the University of Calgary, which was built through a $500K Canada Foundation for Innovation Infrastructure Grant. He also holds operating grants of over $300K to conduct leading-edge research on virtual team effectiveness. Over the past 10 years Tom has worked with organizations in numerous industries includ- ing oil and gas, healthcare, technology, and venture capitals. He is currently engaged with the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary to train, develop, and cultivate soft-skill teamwork competencies in order to equip graduates with strong interpersonal and

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenni Buckley, University of Delaware; Amy Trauth, University of Delaware; Michael Chajes P.E., University of Delaware; Lori Pollock, University of Delaware; Kevin R. Guidry; Michael L. Vaughan, University of Delaware; Jeannie S. Stephens, University of Delaware

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

swelling student enrollment and limited human recourses, specifically, that the course mustbe delivered in two, large capacity sections (300-350 students each) by a maximum of threefaculty instructors, who would receive up to half-time teaching release for the course. This work in progress presents the process and logistical details of the redesign of ourFYE course as well as course evaluations from our pilot year (2015) implementing the newcourse. Our course evaluation focuses specifically on student engagement and retention of corecourse concepts, e.g., engineering design process [6] and Engineering Grand Challenges [11].Using historical data from prior year classes, we also examined whether the course preservedFYE “soft” skills such as

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 1: It's All About Teams and Teamwork

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tom O'Neill, University of Calgary; Semin Park, University of Connecticut; Nicole Lynn Larson, University of Calgary; Amanda Deacon, University of Calgary; Genevieve Hoffart, University of Calgary; Bob Brennan, University of Calgary; Marjan Eggermont, University of Calgary; William Daniel Rosehart P.Eng., University of Calgary

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

-edge research on virtual team effectiveness. Over the past 10 years Tom has worked with organizations in numerous industries includ- ing oil and gas, healthcare, technology, and venture capitals. He is currently engaged with the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary to train, develop, and cultivate soft-skill teamwork competencies in order to equip graduates with strong interpersonal and communication capabilities.Ms. Semin Park, University of Connecticut Semin Park is a doctoral student in management at the University of Connecticut. She earned her M.Sc. and B.B.A. in the College of Business Administration from the Seoul National University and has had a research experience at the University

Conference Session

FPD1 -- Implementing a First-Year Engineering Course

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susanne Wolf, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt; Manfred Hampe, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

, Germany, in 2001. From 2002 until now she works at the Didactic Center of Technische Universität Darmstadt. She is currently working on her doctorate which is part of a broad-based research project of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her interests involve the development, introduction and evaluation of innovative teaching and learning methods as well as quality assurance. She is particularly interested in project-based courses that support the acquirement of soft skills. Page 11.701.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 How to provide first-year students with a really good

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Paying Attention to Retention

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth A. Adams, Chandler Gilbert Community College; Mary Beth Burgoyne

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

a competency gap between graduates’ soft skills (social,leadership, workplace diversity) and what is needed by employers. Students have the content andtechnical knowledge, but they lack the skills and experience to share that knowledge in anaccessible way, with diverse groups and in multiple modes as dictated by the nature of theproject or workplace. Jollands, Jolly and Molyneaux’s 2012 research on engineering curriculumthat requires multiple technical writing, presentation and communication opportunities, thatincludes peer and faculty feedback, better prepares their graduates for the workplace. AnEconomist Intelligence Unit Report, Driving the Skills Agenda: Preparing Students for theFuture (2015), states that the most highly sought after

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division: Student Success

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Okan Caglayan, University of the Incarnate Word; Sreedevi Ande P.E., University of the Incarnate Word; Erik Coronado; Max Joseph Martinez, University of the Incarnate Word; Samuel Jacob Handowski

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

presentations made by the guestspeakers from various industries, such as Southwest Research Institute, Boeing, Rackspace, andFirst Year Engagement Office at UIW. Their presentations emphasized the followingskills/attributes that students need in order to be successful in college and career:  Time management – class attendance, planning, class assignments.  Networking and communication – soft skills, participation in student clubs, gaining information about internships.  Creativity and problem solving – applications of MATLAB5 used in industry by STEM experts.The outcome of the second objective was achieved by developing and implementing technicalsolutions to problems in computer programming, robotics, and presenting the

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jacques C. Richard, Texas A&M University; Noemi V. Mendoza Diaz, Texas A&M University; Tanya Dugat Wickliff, Texas A&M University; So Yoon Yoon, Texas A&M University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

under-pinnings orunderlying mechanisms to have students get that teamwork matters and not showing theirindividual strength off (my grades vs. ours). That we are teaching this and seeing somecorrelations between communication and teamwork (and the students in successful teamsobserve themselves) suggest some things we are teaching are leading to successfulenculturation.The study results suggest that enculturation may be more immediate while socializationmay take longer and be more subconscious. They differ but both need to happen.Can teamwork and communication skills really be called soft-skills? Intangibles? Oneclear outcome of this work is that the notion of these as soft skills needs to bereconsidered.Bibliography1. Brophy, S., Klein, S

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 2A: Using Alternative Measurements to Look at Students and Their Success

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nick Tatar, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; Lauren Van Beek, University of St. Thomas; Laura Ann Lilienkamp, Smith College

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

however that the students in the study were highly focused on activities thatdeveloped specific engineering skills and competencies. Students actively choose to developtheir sense of engineering identity. They spent significantly less time developing “soft skills”such as managing emotions and interpersonal relationships. Additionally, the researchers foundstatistically significant differences in the kinds of activities that men and women pursued, whichaligned with themes within the literature on gender differences between men and women.Literature ReviewResults of previous research:ABET accreditation requirements for engineering institutions include, “a recognition of the needfor, and an ability to engage in lifelong learning.” 2 In order to

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Technical Session 12: Teaching and Advising Students in that Critical First Year

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Iryna Ashby, Purdue University; Marisa Exter, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

,such as analytical skills, are effectively acquired in college, other competencies needed fortoday’s and tomorrow’s engineers are lagging behind [10, 12].Cross-disciplinary Competencies and Self-Directed Lifelong LearningTo date, there is a strong move across many nations to include multi-disciplinary competenciesand soft skills into the engineering curriculum (e.g., [13, 14, 15]). Skills developed in humanitiesclasses help boost awareness of the need for multi-faceted requirements faced by professionals inthe real-world working on ill-structured issues or questions. However, this is only one of theaspects that would help professionals adapt and grow after college.Students enter and often leave college as dependent learners who used to rely on

Conference Session

FPD 9: First-Year Projects

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

S. Scott Moor, Indiana University Purdue University, Fort Wayne; Stephen Heindel, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne; Yanfei Liu, Indiana University Purdue University, Fort Wayne

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

student success topics).1 A well designed project can potentially contribute to severalor even all of these overall areas.Such a project in a general first-year engineering course should be engaging, contemporary andsufficiently broad so as to address multiple facets of engineering including multiple engineeringtopics and important soft-skills. The project needs to be challenging while being understood bythe typical student.An energy scavenging project that incorporates multiple facets of engineering in one project hasbeen refined over several years. The project consists of designing a mechanical system thatharnesses the power of a motor to vibrate piezoelectric buzzer creating an electrical current.2 Theoutput current is rectified and used to

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 7: Experiential Learning

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sarah B. Lee, Mississippi State University; Hunter Lovvorn, Mississippi State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

project using a Finch12 robot was assigned. With similarprojects reporting frustration among students when the robot used has to be assembled by thestudents6, the Finch robot was chosen for its advantage of being already assembled, withoutmultiple parts that can be lost or damaged. The Finch enables students to focus on the softwaredesign rather than constructing the physical robotic device.Objectives of the project assignment were presented to students at the beginning of the project.In addition to exposing students to programming and critical thinking, soft skills experience wasalso a goal. The project objectives were presented to students as follows:  building skills that enable effective teamwork,  working with loose

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 2B: Strategies for Writing and Communication Courses

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicole Lynn Larson, University of Calgary; Genevieve Hoffart, University of Calgary; Tom O'Neill, University of Calgary; Marjan Eggermont, University of Calgary; William Daniel Rosehart P.Eng., University of Calgary

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

director of the Individ- ual and Team Performance Lab and the Virtual Team Performance, Innovation, and Collaboration Lab at the University of Calgary, which was built through a $500K Canada Foundation for Innovation Infrastruc- ture Grant. He also holds operating grants of over $300K to conduct leading-edge research on virtual team effectiveness. Over the past 10 years, Tom has worked with organizations in numerous industries, includ- ing oil and gas, healthcare, technology, and venture capitals. He is currently engaged with the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary to train, develop, and cultivate soft-skill teamwork competencies in order to equip graduates with strong interpersonal and

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Technical Session 11: Curricular and Program Innovations

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jay A. Weitzen, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Md Mamunur Rashid, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Stephen Johnston, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Eric L. Maase, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; David J. Willis, University of Massachusetts, Lowell

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

includes at least 1 or 2 open-ended design projects to give studentsa feel for the type of problems that students solve as engineers. The introductory courses are 2credits and run as some combination of 1 or 2 lectures per week and 2 hours of lab. What thestudents called “soft skills” or “fluff” such as how to get around campus, student clubs andorganizations, et cetera, would be covered by a series of videos that students would watch ontheir own. Topics such as engineering ethics and economics are covered in other requiredcourses. Time management and use of the student tutoring services are integrated into each of thefirst-year electives.Model 2: Skills Modules. The second course model recommended by the committee requires first-year

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Postcard Session 2: Identity and Sense of Belonging

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tirupalavanam G. Ganesh, Arizona State University; Kyle D. Squires, Arizona State University; James Collofello, Arizona State University; Robin R. Hammond, Arizona State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

identify theircultural capital from which to develop their future possible selves as engineers. Throughout thefirst two years, students will be mentored to foster their engineering identity while focusing onsupport for transition to college. Support for transition to college includes encouragement andhelp to form peer learning study groups, study habit workshops, note-taking methods, timemanagement, and financial aid-education. Support for engineering identity development in year1, include opportunities to meet industry professionals, visits to industry sites to learn first-handwhat engineering workplaces look like, engage with engineering leaders through a speakerseries, and attend recurring choice-based 2-hour technical and soft skills building

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

thenarrative. As of 2017, over 2,800 escape rooms exist worldwide​[1]​. Escape rooms have becomea phenomenon with varying themes such as zombies, mad scientists, bank heists, detectives,haunted houses, and ancient tombs​[2]–[4]​. Primarily designed for fun, educators have startedusing them to convey and test content in their classes. Escape rooms have captured the attentionof various disciplines across universities in departments that include education​[2]​, nursing​[3]​,chemistry​[4]​, pharmacy​[5], [6]​ , and surgical medicine​[7]​. An escape room designed purely for fun lends itself to teaching the participantsleadership, communication, and other soft skills​[2]​. Researchers created a pilot program for 13participants to test how well

Conference Session

FPD11 -- Multidisciplinary Experiences

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mehrube Mehrubeoglu, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi; Lifford McLauchlan, Texas A&M University-Kingsville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

the technicalskills, the students are also expected to develop soft skills that are necessary in the engineeringand technology fields, such as teamwork, ethical and professional responsibilities,communications, and time management, all deemed an integral part of the learning experience,and necessary by the ABET accreditation guidelines.Since introductory courses play an important role in student retention and success, there is a needto generate new ideas and develop creative teaching strategies to ensure student interest,attention and learning. Many groups studied innovative methods to achieve the desiredclassroom goals. The following section reviews some of the relevant findings in the literature.The proposed method and its pilot

Conference Session

FPD3 -- Professional Issues for First-Year Courses

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen High, Oklahoma State University; Rebecca Damron, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

DesignChallenge” was modified in the fall 2006 semester to include an explicit question aboutthe students perspective on the activity: Was the “Airplane Design Challenge” a goodway to learn to understand the similarities and differences between product and processdesign? This question acted as the central idea students could develop through thereflections and definitions traditionally required of the assignment. Dr. High, Dr. Damron(an English faculty member) and another English faculty member assessed the studentsfor critical thinking and writing ability using university-wide assessment rubrics.BackgroundIncreasing attention has been given to the development of what have been called the“soft” skills in engineering, which the recent accreditation

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 5A: Work-In-Progress: 5 Minute Postcard Session I

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Ross Tapia, New Mexico State University; Elizabeth Ann Howard, New Mexico State University; Rolfe Sassenfeld, New Mexico State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

opportunities to encourage studentengagement. The college also plans to implement a bridge program for incoming freshman thatwill enrich soft skills learned from the FYE program to ensure a better transition from highschool to college. We will continue to evaluate the programs both qualitatively andquantitatively to make educated decisions on new implementations and changes in the programs.References 1. Kuh, G. (2008). Excerpt from High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to the, and why they matter. Retrieved from accreditation.ncsu.edu 2. Johnson, M. (2009). The role of peer leaders in an honors freshman experience course. Honors In Practice, 189-196, Retrieved from libezp.nmsu.edu:2186/ehost 3. Liang

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Technical Session 4: The Best of the All: FPD Best Papers

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Genevieve Hoffart, University of Calgary; Nicole Lynn Larson, University of Calgary; Tom O'Neill, University of Calgary; Matthew James Walter McLarnon, University of Western Ontario; Marjan Eggermont, University of Calgary; Bob Brennan, University of Calgary; Bill Rosehart, University of Calgary

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

, personality, and assessment. He is director of the Individual and Team Performance Lab and the Virtual Team Performance, Innovation, and Collaboration Lab at the University of Calgary, which was built through a $500K Canada Foundation for Innovation Infrastructure Grant. He also holds operating grants of over $300K to conduct leading-edge research on virtual team effectiveness. Over the past 10 years Tom has worked with organizations in numerous industries includ- ing oil and gas, healthcare, technology, and venture capitals. He is currently engaged with the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary to train, develop, and cultivate soft-skill teamwork competencies in order to equip graduates with strong

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Technical Session 10: Paying Attention to Retention

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sydney N Hallman, University of Oklahoma; Chad Eric Davis P.E., University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

designedto be technically difficult or time consuming for the students. Homework assignments are createdbased on the course objectives and focus on soft-skills that engineering students get minimalexposure to throughout the remainder of their required curricula. Common assignments eachsemester include a Resume Critique, Graduation Plan, and an Engineering Challenges paperwhere students detail the motivations for completing their engineering degree and the challengesthey anticipate in the coming years. Student comments show that the Engineering Challengesassignment in particular really helped give them a “reality check” and exposed shortcomings intheir study habits or their school-work-home balance. Evaluation techniques for the courseinclude

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Paying Attention to Retention

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Benjamin B. Wheatley, Colarado State University; Tammy Lynn Haut Donahue, Colorado State University; Kimberly Catton P.E., Colorado State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

relate to software skills, and how ”soft skills” project to success as engineers. His areas of technical research include finite element analysis and skeletal muscle mechanics.Dr. Tammy Lynn Haut Donahue, Colorado State University Tammy Haut Donahue joined the faculty at Colorado State University (CSU) in December of 2011. She came to CSU after spending eleven years in Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological Univer- sity. Her PhD was in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California at Davis where she earned the Allen Marr Award for distinguished dissertation in Biomedical Engineering in 2000. She is an Asso- ciate Editor for the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering and an Editorial Consultant for

Conference Session

First-year Programs: Student Perceptions and Perspectives

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Devin R. Berg, University of Wisconsin-Stout; Tina Lee, University of Wisconsin-Stout; Elizabeth Anne Buchanan, University of Wisconsin-Stout

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

masculine whilehumanities, social sciences, and “soft skills” such as communication and ethics are often seen tobe more feminine [20]. These patterns might explain why women entered the class more awareof social and environment issues and likely account for the women in our study being more opento a class about social justice, volunteering, and how engineering can be used to help others thanmen were (see also [20] for a discussion of men’s resistance to communication skills instructionin engineering). It is important to note, however, that socialization may not directly account forall aspects of how gender differences are expressed through student perceptions. There is someevidence that correlations between empathy or care and social or