Conference Session

FPD V: Gender and Engineering Education: A Panel Discussion and Workshop

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yevgeniya V. Zastavker, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; Debbie Chachra, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; Caitrin Lynch, Olin College of Engineering; Alisha L. Sarang-Sieminski, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; Lynn Andrea Stein, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs, Women in Engineering

between the experiences of women in undergraduate engineering programs and their malecounterparts.1-5 Many existing explanations of women’s under-representation in engineering andphysical sciences are based on differences in intrinsic values, psychological needs, preparation,work-related values, family obligations, and lack of “critical mass.”3,6-14 Without ruling out thepossible significance of these factors, this paper explores an alternative factor, one over whichthe engineering profession itself might have greater control: the culture of our classrooms. Inparticular, we introduce several frameworks from the psychology and gender studies literaturethat shed light on how classroom climate plays a role in student experience and, in turn, in

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ibibia K. Dabipi, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

engineering design experience aimed at a design course that iscollaborative, multi-disciplined, hands on, aerospace industry focused, and helps studentsidentify strengths and weaknesses they may have when working in team environments [1][2].While focusing on aviation projects, the faculties from both the engineering and aviationprograms seek to address the issues faced by students in both programs in a way that benefits thestudents. Practical projects provide the students with the understanding that their work isaddressing a relevant industry need. Additionally, design projects such as this one introducesstudents to the type of group dynamics that they are likely to encounter at their future sites ofemployment where they will be expected to perform

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen Rippon, Arizona State University; James Collofello, Arizona State University; Robin R Hammond, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

lessons learned from this pilotevent.BackgroundEducators and industry alike have well documented their concerns about the future ofengineering in the United States due to a decline of engineering graduates.1 Increasing thenumber of engineering graduates requires both an increase in the number of students choosing tostudy engineering as well as an increase in engineering student retention. Engineering programshave struggled with retention issues for decades with many programs reporting that 30-40% ofstudents leave engineering after the freshmen year. Numerous studies indicate the many factorsthat impact retention in engineering, including (specific to this paper) a student‟s knowledge of

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chitra Javdekar, Massachusetts Bay Community College, Wellesley Hills MA 02481; Stephen W. McKnight, Northeastern University; Michael E. Pelletier, Northern Essex Community College

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

-bordercollaboration has been made possible due to the availability of a larger pool of researchers, thispresents challenges to U.S. competitiveness in high technology areas and to its position as aworld leader in critical S&E fields. Within the US the proportion of Natural Sciences andEngineering (NS&E) degrees as a share of total degrees conferred in US has declined byapproximately eight percent from 2002 to 2007 [1]. There is evidence to suggest that some of thisdecline can be attributed to the student attrition during their first one or two years from thescience and engineering programs.Previous studies have indicated that significant student attrition or “switching” from science andengineering educational programs to other fields occurs during

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Holly M. Matusovich, Virginia Tech; Walter Curtis Lee, Virginia Tech ; John Andrew Janeski, Virginia Tech; Katherine E. Winters, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

of these needs lead to greater psychological well-being. Asshown in Figure 1, we hypothesize that classroom instructors and environment factors contributeto students’ fulfillment of autonomy, competence and relatedness needs, which in turn contributeto greater motivation as measured through self-reported course engagement.Figure 1: Proposed relationship between classroom environment, SDT constructs and students’engagement in lecture and workshop activitiesResearch on Student Autonomy, Competence, and RelatednessAlthough much of the work exploring self-determination among students is quantitative andfocuses on primary and secondary school students, such research has shown promising tiesbetween need fulfillment and indicators of course

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shannon Ciston, University of New Haven; Maria-Isabel Carnasciali, Ph.D., University of New Haven; Jean Nocito-Gobel, University of New Haven; Cory Carr

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

provide residences for students, particularlyyoung adults, close to classes and embedded within the campus community has been commonpractice since the formation of our oldest colleges and universities. The concept of themeddormitory housing, such as floors reserved for students of a particular major or extra-curricularinterest, and living/learning communities in earnest, began with Alexander Meiklejohn’sexperimental college at the University of Wisconsin in 1927, and have continued to expand.1 Page 22.803.2Living Learning Communities can be defined as by Inkelas, Zeller, Murphy, and Hummel:students, “1) live together on campus, 2) take part in a

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Kline, Western Michigan University; Betsy M. Aller, Western Michigan University; Edmund Tsang, Western Michigan University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

STEP program has increased steadily. Table 1 shows theincrease in placement of students into learning communities, where first-time, first-year studentstake 3 to 5 courses in common with the same group of students (“a cohort”), to facilitateformation of study groups and other social or professional interactions. As much as possible,students in a cohort are also grouped by Residence hall staff in the Engineering House, whichhas enhanced STEM tutoring services available beyond the regular university tutoring orlearning centers. Except for the base year of 2004-05, voluntary enrollment exceeded theexpected or proposed enrollment projected by CEAS. Because the sample size from the 2004-05 year is small, retention data uses the 2005-06 cohort of

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jacqueline Q. Hodge, Texas A&M University; Magdalini Z. Lagoudas, Texas A&M University; Angie M. Harris, Texas A&M University; Jefferey E. Froyd, Texas A&M University; Margaret Hobson, Texas A&M University; Jasmine Alysse Pope

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

services offered atELLC. All Veterans are required to hold a GPA above 2.75. Faculty members and/oradministrators devote time to students through academically-focused group activities to provideearly connections to the COE. Academic advisors hold office hours in the residence hall andanswer student questions about class registration and their specific departmental curriculum. Inaddition, student organizations are also involved at the ELLC with events that aim to engagefreshman in their activities. Overall, the ELLC offers students both academic and social supportand opportunities to connect with engineering.Demographics of ParticipantsTables 1 and 2 show the demographics of students who lived in the ELLC from 2007 to 2010.The Non-ELLC cohort

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa A. Pruitt, University of California, Berkeley

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

develop teamwork skills. The course aims to deliver the criteria for graduatingcompetent engineers as recommended by the Accreditation Board of Engineering andTechnology. These criteria are summarized in Table 1. Page 22.966.2 Table 1. ABET criteria for competent engineersCriteria Description of competency (a) An ability to apply mathematics science and engineering principles (b) An ability to design and conduct experiments and interpret data (c) An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs (d) an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams (e) an ability to

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Roesch Johnson, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Engineering Professional Development

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

become clearer about their professionalgoals as well as improve their technical writing skills. Page 22.5.2IntroductionMaximizing student involvement and retention in science, technology, math and engineering(STEM) still remains a challenge. As noted by Astin and Astin (1) and again by Seymour andHewitt (2), approximately 50% abandon the physical and biological sciences, and approximately40% of those potential majors in engineering switch to non-science courses. This lack ofpersistence in pursuit of a STEM major has generated numerous studies and explanations. Anextensive study by Seymour and Hewitt (3) of STEM majors who persisted in the

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicky Wolmarans, University of Cape Town, Department of Civil Engineering and Centre for Research in Engineering Education (CREE); Corrinne Shaw, University of Cape Town, Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Centre for Research in Engineering Education (CREE)

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

. Page 22.1724.2Becoming an engineerThe background to being or becoming an engineer lies in studies of graduate attributes orcompetencies. This body of literature focuses on the need to develop core knowledge andskills for success as an engineer. In the mid to late 1990’s the focus was predominantlyconcerned with deficiencies in graduate engineers in terms of complementary skills such asteamwork, communications and business skills 1. More recently, there has been a shifttowards acknowledgement of the primacy of the ability to apply theoretical knowledge to realindustrial applications2 or as Ferguson warns, a danger of losing the basic analytical skills inthe push for employment ready graduates3.The response to these concerns includes the

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Beverly Louie, University of Colorado, Boulder; Daniel Knight, University of Colorado, Boulder; Jacquelyn F. Sullivan, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

. Yet, once in university-level engineering courses, many students are unable to improvepoor grades because they make the realization too late in the semester that they need help, haveineffective study habits, and/or do not know how to seek and find help.The performance profiles of the first- and second-year engineering students in our institution areshown in Figure 1. Despite higher grade point averages while in high school and an incomingpredicted GPA of 3.15 upon admission to our college, our students’ mean first-year GPA duringthe past three years was ~2.84.After their first semester, on average, more than 8% of our ~700first-year students have GPAs below 2.0, immediately placing them on academic probation. 3.100 3.000

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kerry Meyers, University of Notre Dame; Benjamin Mertz, University of Notre Dame

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

engineering later – but since they are not currentlyclassified as seniors they were not considered in the current study.The students' responses were grouped into 14 different categories and tallied. The categoriesused were “Math/Science,” “Better World,” “Problem Solving,” “Build Things,” “Practicality,”“Specific Field,” “Prepare for Other Career,” “Family,” “Broad,” “Groups,”Innovative/Creative,” “Previous Experience,” “Good Career,” and “How things Work.” The restof this section is dedicated to defining these groups, shown in Table 1. Table 1. Coding for Student Motivation EssaysCategory  Description  ExampleMath/Science  Indicate aptitude or enjoyment of a math

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ding Yuan, Colorado State University, Pueblo; Jude L. DePalma, Colorado State University, Pueblo; Nebojsa I. Jaksic, Colorado State University, Pueblo; Jane M. Fraser, Colorado State University, Pueblo

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

material integration within linked courses2, 5, 6 to fully integratedcurricula for the first year students7, 8 and living learning communities9. Most learningcommunities focus on the first-year cohorts where the attrition rates are the highest. A learningcommunity can be functionally defined as “a broad structural innovation that can address avariety of issues from student retention to curriculum coherence, from faculty vitality to buildinga greater sense of community within our colleges.”1 Learning communities are more sustainablethan many other educational reforms10.High attrition rates are even more pronounced among low-income, first-generation collegestudents (which closely resemble the student demographics at Colorado State University -Pueblo

Conference Session

FPD X: First-Year Design with Projects, Modeling, and Simulation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Clifford A. Whitfield, Ohio State University; Philip Schlosser, Ohio State University; John A Merrill, Ohio State University; Elizabeth Riter, Ohio State University; Kuldeep Agarwal, Ohio State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

success among students with learning disabilities. Dr. Merrill currently serves as an advisor for Engineers for Community Service (ECOS), a student-run organization at Ohio State. He teaches a Service-Learning course for Engineering students, which also involves traveling to Honduras with his students over Spring Break to implement projects on behalf of a rural orphanage. He is a two-time recipient of the College of Engineering’s Boyer Award for Excellence in Teaching. Address: The Ohio State University, 2070 Neil Ave., 244E Hitchcock Hall, Columbus, OH 43210-1278; telephone: (+1) 614.292.0650; fax: (+1) 614.247.6255; e-mail: merrill.25@osu.edu.Ms. Elizabeth Riter, Ohio State University Elizabeth is currently a

Conference Session

FPD X: First-Year Design with Projects, Modeling, and Simulation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mario Gomes, Rochester Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

University, severalopen-ended freshman engineering design projects were created in each engineering depart-ment.1 The complexity, costs, and design of these projects varies widely between universitiesand also varies over time at the same university as well. However, in general most of thesefreshman design courses have the same objectives: to apply basic engineering principles toa project, build on concepts learned in their physics and math courses, to think creatively,to develop teamwork skills, to understand the the basics of the engineering profession. Thedesign project described in this paper was created for undergraduate freshman mechanicalengineering students. The pre-requisites for the course included high-school physics, algebra,geometry, and

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Malinda S. Zarske, University of Colorado, Boulder; Derek T. Reamon, University of Colorado, Boulder; Daniel Knight, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

clients during the PBSL-based section of the course. Theinstructor treated the projects between both sections equally, and, when queried, did not thinkthat client-based design would have a greater impact on student learning or attitudes.Student demographics for both sections (n = 66) are provided in Table 1. Ethnicity was recordedas either students who are underrepresented in engineering (URM) or majority students (MAJ).MAJ students included White and Asian students, while URM students included AfricanAmerican, Hispanic, Native American and Multicultural students.Table 1. Fall 2009 and 2010 First-Year Engineering Projects (FYEP) course demographics, with rawnumbers followed by percentage of the whole. Course

Conference Session

FPD X: First-Year Design with Projects, Modeling, and Simulation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ani Ural, Villanova University; Joseph Robert Yost, Villanova University; David W Dinehart, Villanova University; Shawn P. Gross, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

describesone of these interdisciplinary freshman projects. The project, known as Analytical andExperimental Evaluation of a SMARTBEAM, combines elements of civil, mechanical andelectrical engineering in the study of flexural behavior of expanded wide flange steel beamsknown as cellular beams. The project combines finite element analysis, flexural stress concepts,strain gauge instrumentation and experimental investigation into a unified experience. Detailsrelated to course development and structure, lecture content, method of delivery, outcomes, andlearning assessment are presented.1. IntroductionEngineering analysis, design and research investigation must rely on theory, computationalanalysis and experimental evaluation. In order to effectively

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bernard White, George Mason University; Eileen Patricia Mazzone, George Mason University; Vicki L. Dominick, George Mason University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

“understand how to acquire knowledge, how to develop personal strategies,how to discern their own capacities and limitations, and how to approach new bodies oflearning.” We set out to develop a curriculum that would provide opportunities for STEMstudents to develop these skills. Because we were departing from our typical on-campus programand were determined to create a quality online version, information on how to build an effectiveonline class was also researched. Johnson and Aragon7 state that "powerful online learningenvironments need to contain a combination of these principles: (1) address individualdifferences, (2) motivate the student, (3) avoid information overload, (4) create a real-lifecontext, (5) encourage social interaction, (6) provide

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yvette Pearson Weatherton, University of Texas, Arlington; Andrew P. Kruzic, University of Texas, Arlington; Beth R. Isbell, University of Texas at Arlington; Lynn L. Peterson, University of Texas, Arlington; Carter Tiernan, University of Texas, Arlington; Vu V. Pham, University of Texas at Arlington

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

groups. As of the time of this writing, those datahave not yet been analyzed.FORCES students were asked to evaluate the elements of the program in a survey. The surveyasked the students to rate the degree to which program components such as Jump Start Math,FIG involvement and others were beneficial to them in terms of meeting their intendedobjectives and their usefulness in general. Figure 1 is an excerpt from the survey instrumentshowing questions specific to Jump Start Math and the FIG, the two program elements that arethe focus of this study. A four-point Likert scale with responses ranging from “StronglyDisagree” to “Strongly Agree” was used. There was no “Neutral” response; however “NotApplicable” was added so that the survey could

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kirsten A. Davis, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

every other CM course, whether they are formal prerequisites or not.Students are often not prepared for the amount of self-directed studying they must do to besuccessful in this type of course, particularly as freshmen in college. To assist students in moreaccurately gauging their readiness for an exam, no-stakes (optional) quizzes were implementedwithin the Blackboard course management system in a freshman level CM materials andmethods course, giving students an opportunity to practice their new language with no grade-related consequences.This paper presents preliminary results of that effort and illustrates the effects of this no-stakes(optional) quizzing. Specifically, this paper evaluates (1) whether the quizzing helps students tobetter

Conference Session

FPD X: First-Year Design with Projects, Modeling, and Simulation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Naomi C. Chesler, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Cynthia M. D'Angelo, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Golnaz Arastoopour, University of Wisconsin, Madison; David Williamson Shaffer, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

design-build-test cycles in the simulation; instead the emphasis is on managingconflicting client requirements, making trade-offs in selecting a final design and justifyingdesign choices. This paper describes the design of the simulation and preliminary results from itsinclusion in a first-year Introduction to Engineering course at our institution.Introduction:First year engineering curricula offer a critical window of opportunity to retain students inengineering disciplines and provide a strong foundation for future success. Incorporating designinto these first year courses, often referred to as cornerstone design (in contrast to seniorcapstone design)1, has been promoted as a way to give students some insight into theprofessional practice of

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

studentswere frequent cell phone users during class and which students were friends and work partnerswithin the class. The instructor then divided the class in a way such that two friends or workpartners were in different groups, enabling us to have one group text the other with someknowledge that they had phone numbers of members of the other group. Group 1 was in classwhile Group 2 had a breakfast meeting with the instructor to discuss a class project. Group 2 wastold the class was split since no food is allowed in the computer classroom and the onlyconference room available could only accommodate half the class. Back in the classroom, thepresenter (also a professor who teaches the course) gave a 15-minute presentation that wasrelevant to the course

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Holly M. Matusovich, Virginia Tech; Brett D. Jones, Virginia Tech; Marie C. Paretti, Virginia Tech; Jacob Preston Moore, Virginia Tech; Deirdre-Annaliese Nicole Hunter, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

their motivation in the course.Importantly, the goal of this study is not to provide a direct comparison between the groups, butrather to better understand the ways students perceive faculty roles and how those perceptionscorrelate to student motivation.BackgroundProblem-Based LearningProblem-Based Learning (PBL), as defined in the literature, emerged first in medical educationand is grounded in theories of constructivist learning and cognitive development.1 In recentyears, however, PBL has emerged as a useful approach to engineering and science education(e.g.,2-12).In PBL, students are provided with an ill-structured problem that they work collaboratively toaddress. Under the guidance of faculty who function as facilitators rather than

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rachelle Reisberg, Northeastern University; Joseph A. Raelin, Northeastern University; Margaret B. Bailey, Rochester Institute of Technology; Jerry Carl Hamann, University of Wyoming; David L. Whitman, University of Wyoming; Leslie K. Pendleton, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

retention among undergraduate students in engineering.BackgroundThe field of cooperative education and internships has proposed the use of the concept of self-efficacy as a promising avenue to link practice-oriented learning processes to learningoutcomes.2 Self-efficacy is defined as an individual’s perceived level of competence or thedegree to which she or he feels capable of completing a task. Self-efficacy is a dynamic trait thatchanges over time and can be influenced by experience. Self-efficacy expectations areconsidered the primary cognitive determinant of whether or not an individual will attempt agiven behavior. Bandura3 identified four sources of information that shape self-efficacy: (1)performance accomplishments, (2) vicarious experience

Conference Session

FPD X: First-Year Design with Projects, Modeling, and Simulation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew Whiteacre, Texas A&M University; Jeffrey M. Otey, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

hours in duration and met twice Page 22.1554.2each week for 14 weeks. This project spanned approximately eight class periods during an eight-week period.Initially, the teams were provided the Magnastix, a bag containing magnetic rods and steelspheres and were instructed to create a structure or bridge to span a 4.25 inch gap across twotextbooks. No further instruction was given. The student designs were diverse as can be seen inFigure 1. Designs varied from trusses, to walkways, to fairly random arrangements. Figure 1. Examples of structures without previous instruction.Once the teams built their original bridges, they were

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James E. Lewis, University of Louisville; David Wheatley

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

well as the impact on class interest, enthusiasm, andstudent perceptions.1. IntroductionAll incoming students to the J.B. Speed School of Engineering are required to take theIntroduction to Engineering course. The goals of the course are to introduce the new students tocollege campus life and resources, make the students aware of the different disciplines ofengineering that might interest them, give them a feel for what engineers do, and introduce themto engineering software that they might use in school or profession to solve technical problems.Case Studies are used in the Introduction to Engineering course as a way for the incoming Page

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jacqueline Q. Hodge, Texas A&M University; Margaret Hobson, Texas A&M University; Bugrahan Yalvac, Texas A&M University; Magdalini Z Lagoudas, Texas A&M University; Jefferey E. Froyd, Texas A&M University; Natela Ostrovskaya, Texas A&M University; Tatiana Erukhimova, Texas A&M University, Department of Physics and Astronomy; Cesar O. Malave, Texas A&M University; William H Bassichis, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

) and Engineering Study Skills (ENGR 289-202). Page 22.1561.5The LEEP CoursesLEEP Engineering Mathematics Course. The LEEP math course objectives were to 1) reinforce,broaden and extend mathematical knowledge/skills; 2) prepare for Engineering Mathematics(Math 151) and Physics (PHYS 218) courses; 3) develop/improve problem-solvingabilities/skills through experience in a design project; and 4) recognize the importance ofmathematics to engineering. Topics included fundamental concepts in algebra (exponents andradicals, algebraic and rational expressions, equations and inequalities, systems of equations) andplanar geometry, elementary functions

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Danny King, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis; Laura Masterson, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

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

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bart M. Johnson, Itasca Community College; Ronald R. Ulseth, Itasca Community College; Gordy Savela, Itasca Community College; Mason A. Hansen, Itasca Community College; Julie Kennedy, P.E., Itasca Community College

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Education, 2011 The Itasca CC Engineering Learning CommunityAbstractThe engineering program at Itasca Community College in northern Minnesota has developed asuccessful and unique learning community model for engineering education. The model ishighly effective in attracting a wide variety of students into the field of engineering. It hasproven successful in developing the student’s ability to complete a four-year engineering degreeand enter the workforce in a timely fashion. The success of the model is based on acomprehensive learning community approach that is defined by 1) strong K-12 relationships, 2)two-year “across the curriculum” engineering and professional development (EPD) coursesequence, 3) active faculty and student life