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: 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: Tuesday 5-Minute Work-in-Progress Postcard Session

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brandon B. Terranova, Drexel University; Christopher M. Weyant, Drexel University (Eng. & Eng. Tech.); Steven Wrenn, Drexel Unviersity, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department; Youngmoo Kim, Drexel University, ExCITe Center; Lunal Khuon, Drexel University; Kristin Imhoff, Drexel University (Eng. & Eng. Tech.); Kevin Ayers, Drexel University (Eng. & Eng. Tech.); Antonios Kontsos, Drexel University (Eng. & Eng. Tech.); Leonid Hrebien, Drexel University (Eng. & Eng. Tech.); James E. Mitchell, Drexel University (Eng. & Eng. Tech.)

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

the projects,and self-evaluated their relevant knowledge and abilities before and after the projects. Earlyresults presented in this paper indicate an improved level of student satisfaction with the newcourse structure and the pilot mini-projects.IntroductionThe goal of introductory general engineering laboratory courses is to engage, challenge andexcite first-year students about engineering. This report discusses the restructuring of a three-quarter general engineering laboratory course sequence (ENGR 101/102/103) to ensure thesegoals are met, while improving soft skills and student understanding of engineeringconcepts. The effort, guided by faculty representatives from each department in the college,included the development of two

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Design in the First Year

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Joseph Frank, Ohio State University; Kelly Lynn Kolotka, Ohio State University; Andrew H. Phillips, Ohio State University; Michael Schulz, The Ohio State University; Clare Rigney, Ohio State University, Engineering Education Department; Allen Benjamin Drown, Ohio State University; Robert G. Stricko III, Ohio State University; Kathleen A. Harper, Ohio State University; Richard J. Freuler, Ohio State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

-classroom approach, the program incorporates rapiddevelopment of programming and CAD skills, in addition to the soft skills developed fromworking in a challenging and long-term group project.Beyond this groundwork is the project itself, which is based on an interactive robotics course.The course is controlled using a modular network of partially custom hardware and monitoredusing an array of cameras which provide positioning information for robots. Students are loaneda custom controller designed by the program, and access to the program’s store of buildingmaterials from which they can use their team budget to buy components from. Interfacing withthe store using a catalog like website, students are able to order parts as well as submit designsfor