Conference Session

FPD3 -- Professional Issues for First-Year Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Simmons, University of Queensland; Elise Barrella, Bucknell University; Keith Buffinton, Bucknell University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

academic career in 1987 as an Assistant Professor in mechanical engineering at Bucknell University and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1992 and Professor in 2002. In 2003, he became Associate Dean of the College of Engineering. He received in 2003 Bucknell's Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles on the dynamics and control of robotic systems. His research interests include multibody dynamics, nonlinear control, mechanical design, systems thinking, and engineering management education. Page 11.1031.1© American

Conference Session

FPD8 -- Systems, Nanotechnology & Programming

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Youssef Allam, Ohio State University; David Tomasko, Ohio State University; John Merrill, Ohio State University; Bruce Trott, Ohio State University; Phil Schlosser, Ohio State University; Paul Clingan, Ohio State University

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First-Year Programs

activities. The labactivities included a quarter-length design, build, and test problem utilizing project managementand team building skills found in the standard lab sections.The new course offering represents a significant effort to transfer graduate level researchfindings to a freshman engineering setting. This exposed students to cutting-edge research topicsand fostered an early interest in academic and professional careers in new fields such asnanotechnology and biomedical devices. The project also demonstrates a safe method ofincorporating more chemical and biological based engineering disciplines into a freshmanlaboratory course as an alternative to the traditional electro-mechanical emphasis. In fact, thelab-on-a-chip platform provides a

Conference Session

FPD8 -- Systems, Nanotechnology & Programming

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Helen Burn, University of Michigan; James Holloway, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

instructors can directly influence student motivation. The treatmentgroup was no more likely than the comparison group to believe that the ideas from the coursewould be useful in their future careers. This finding is partly attributable to our inability tocontrol for the nature of the weekly assignments in the untreated group, which confounded ourability to fully evaluate the effect of the intervention on students’ perception of the usefulness ofthe course. Gender, race/ethnicity, and prior programming experience were not significantpredictors of perceptions of importance or usefulness. Student interest in the weeklyprogramming assignments was the biggest predictor of agreeing that the course was importantand useful, followed by a student’s self

Conference Session

FPD6 -- Early Intervention & Retention Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cindy Foor, University of Oklahoma; Susan Walden, University of Oklahoma; Tyler Combrink, University of Oklahoma; Lindsey McClure, University of Oklahoma; Deborah Trytten, University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

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

Conference Session

FPD1 -- Implementing a First-Year Engineering Course

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Hagenberger, Valparaiso University; Barbara Engerer, Valparaiso University; Doug Tougaw, Valparaiso University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

semester of a student’s academic career is always very important, and it may be evenmore important for an engineering student. From increasing academic rigor to increasedfreedom to make important life-affecting choices, the first semester of an engineering programholds great opportunity to change a student’s life. Along with this high degree of importancecomes a high degree of flexibility, because there are many different ways in which a firstengineering course can be structured and taught. Each of these different philosophies has itsbenefits and liabilities, and optimizing the first-semester engineering course is still a very activearea of curricular research.In this paper, we will first present an overview of the many different philosophies

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Kazmer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; John Duffy, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Beverly Perna, Tsongas Industrial History Center

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

impact on student motivation and success.2. IntroductionEngineering education seems to have come under increased criticism lately, with manycompanies and students arguing that engineering curricula are too abstract and disconnected [1,2]. It is interesting to reflect upon similar concerns of Henderson [3] and Grinter [4] dating backto 1983 and even 1955. These studies consistently indicate that engineering education shouldhave the following properties: 1. Relevance to the lives and careers of students, preparing them for a broad range of careers, as well as for lifelong learning involving both formal programs and hands-on experience; 2. Attractiveness so that the excitement and intellectual content of engineering will

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lorelle Meadows, University of Michigan; Samantha Jarema, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

engineers that are important in this service capacity. These include “an ability tofunction on multidisciplinary teams,” “an understanding of professional and ethicalresponsibility,” “an ability to communicate effectively,” “the broad education necessary tounderstand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context,” and “aknowledge of contemporary issues.” Service-learning courses are an ideal mechanism to meetthese critical program outcomes in the training of the next generation of engineers 1, 5-9.Service-learning opportunities in the engineering curriculum have an additional potential bonusof increasing the diversity of the profession. Altruistic reasons for choosing a career in science orengineering are predominantly

Conference Session

FPD4 -- Real-World Case Studies & Projects

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Liesl Hotaling, Stevens Institute of Technology; Richard Sheryll, Center for Maritime Systems, Stevens Institute of Technology; Rustam Stolkin, Center for Maritime Systems, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

. These projects help expose students to practical design issues in thefreshman year, foster creative problem solving skills and may aid student retention onengineering programs. These projects have also been successfully piloted in pre-collegeprograms, aimed at generating interest in engineering careers among high school students.We describe ongoing work to extend these projects to include computer control and sensoryfeedback, allowing students to develop autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Further, weoutline ongoing work to assess the effectiveness of these modules.1 IntroductionThis paper describes an ongoing effort, at Stevens Institute of Technology, to develop a set ofeducational modules, which will teach fundamental engineering

Conference Session

FPD2 -- Highlighting First-Year Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Howard, East Carolina University; Joseph Musto, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

MilwaukeeSchool of Engineering. This course, ME-160, Introduction to Mechanical Engineering andDesign, is a three-credit course required for first-quarter freshmen mechanical engineeringstudents. During a two-hour lab session each week, hand sketching and solid modeling aretaught. One lecture hour per week is devoted to problem solving and the design process, and theother lecture hour is used primarily for invited speakers. The speakers have been selected torepresent a wide variety of engineering careers, and include senior managers as well as youngerengineers who are a year or two into their careers. The course culminates in a creative designproject, in which teams of students formulate a design and present it orally. Because of the time

Conference Session

FPD1 -- Implementing a First-Year Engineering Course

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dana Elzey, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

component of the curriculum. These changes include increasing numbersof women and minorities in engineering (and the need to increase them further), better preparednessof high school graduates for college-level study, and heightened competition among institutions andfields for the best students. Entering engineering students are therefore more diverse, moredemanding, and more ‘consumer-conscious’ and sophisticated in the evaluation of career alternativesthan ever. So in addition to providing students with the fundamentals of technical problem solving,the intro to engineering course must now provide an effective learning experience for a much more

Conference Session

FPD2 -- Highlighting First-Year Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marc Christensen, Southern Methodist University; David Willis, Southern Methodist University; Scott Douglas, Southern Methodist University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Engineering Education at SMU. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University. Dr. Douglas' is a recognized expert in the fields of adaptive filters, blind source Page 11.71.1 separation, and active noise control, having authored or co-authored two books, six book chapters and over 150 journal and conference papers in these fields. He was the recipient of an NSF CAREER (Young Investigator) Award in 1995 and has received significant research funding from the U.S. Army, other U.S. governmental organizations, the State of Texas, and Raytheon© American Society for Engineering

Conference Session

FPD4 -- Real-World Case Studies & Projects

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Yao, East Carolina University; Gene Dixon, East Carolina University; William Howard, East Carolina University; Ric Williams; Keith Williamson, East Carolina University; Geoffrey Dieck, East Carolina University; Steve McLawhorn, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

one team, two members designed, developed, constructed and operated the robot. The non-attending members were isolated from the oral report, the written report and the competition by the participating members. During the oral presentation judging, the external judges noted the anomaly and queried the students. The students, both participating and non- participating, provided direct, honest feedback which the judges used to relate to real- world examples and career impacts.)The robot project was also evaluated through the use of an instructor survey. This survey wasadministered to the four faculty members comprising the instructing cohort immediatelyfollowing the end of the semester. The most valuable

Conference Session

FPD9 -- Technology & Textbooks

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Philip Kosky, Union College; William Keat, Union College; George Wise, Union College; Robert Balmer, Union College

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

career. It should not be so formal that the students are repelled or overwhelmed bytechnical issues while, at the same time, it should introduce some of the basic principles ofengineering so that the students can experience what it might be like to spend their life as aprofessional engineer. Ideally the first year engineering course should emphasize basicprinciples as physical realities rather than be an exercise in abstruse terminology and/or evenmore abstruse mathematical formulae. An associated freshman-engineering textbook shouldreflect the excitement of the profession with language, topics, and examples that will stimulateyoung men and women. It should also assure that all students are getting the same message in amultiple section

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Thompson, Purdue University; William Oakes, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Hon. Engr. Problem SolvingNetwork Service- Engr. Problem Solving Optional Required learning Communication SeminarIDEAS Multicultural Engr. Problem Solving Required Required and Service- Chemistry learning SeminarScience BoundOverviewThe Purdue University Science Bound program 15 is an outreach program that mentors 8ththrough 12th grade students at Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS), encouraging them to enroll inclasses and pursue careers in science, engineering, technology, and math/science education.Those IPS students who complete the 5-year Science Bound program and gain acceptance

Conference Session

FPD3 -- Professional Issues for First-Year Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dwight Tolliver, University of Tennessee; Lauren Hines, University of Tennessee; J. Roger Parsons, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

interdisciplinary teams1, 2. As a result, many engineeringprograms now devote a portion of their curriculum to team experiences and buildingcommunication skills. These activities are designed not only to equip students with theinterpersonal skills that they will need in their career, but to build self-efficacy and helpincrease retention3.The Engage program at the University of Tennessee was designed to be an integratedcurriculum that would “continue to teach essential skills, using techniques that improveproblem-solving ability, teach design methodology, and teach teamwork andcommunication skills,”4. The Engage program is a 12 credit hour, two-semester coursethat all first year students are required to take. The program was piloted in the 1997-1998academic

Conference Session

FPD4 -- Real-World Case Studies & Projects

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ari Epstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Alberta Lipson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Rafael Bras, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Kip Hodges, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

this year. Terrascope was far and away the highlight of my first year experience. It was what gave meaning to my education in the rest of the core classes and provided a strong support community and a body of friends essential for the first years. It allowed me to find a group of students who have common environmental interest. This helps to shape my academic interest and even career path.Students who were ambivalent or negative about the class mentioned one particular theme – theworkload and time commitment. As one student said, “It was too much work compared to what alot of the freshmen had and took me away from doing work in other classes.”Project-Based TeamworkTeamwork and collaborative group problem-solving

Conference Session

FPD3 -- Professional Issues for First-Year Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sven Bilen, Pennsylvania State University; Beverly Jaeger, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

time.IntroductionIn addition to conveying engineering content, teaching first-year engineering students entails itsown specific educational issues, some of which are: (1) attracting and maintaining the students’interest and attention at a quality level, (2) helping students generate a sense of relevance Page 11.1315.2between class and engineering in the real world, (3) building a foundation to their technicalpresentation skills, (4) motivating them to be interested and inspired by engineering as a career,(5) making them feel part of the new academic world they are entering, and (6) allowing themto contribute to and participate in their own education. The OME

Conference Session

FPD1 -- Implementing a First-Year Engineering Course

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenny Lo, Virginia Tech; Vinod Lohani, Virginia Tech; Odis Griffin, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

field of engineering became much clearer after completion of Engineering Exploration. There are several valuable pieces of information that have been impressed upon me and that I will carry throughout my college/engineering career. The first being all of the opportunities available to engineers, especially at a research institution like Virginia Tech. Second, that the modern engineer must not only possess the power of knowledge, but maintain professional standards. Furthermore, I was taught how to use many tools such as the engineering design process, MatLab, the basics of Object-Oriented Programming, and how to effectively use graphing.AcknowledgementsThe authors of this paper would like

Conference Session

FPD6 -- Early Intervention & Retention Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carrie Slater, Virginia Tech; Whitney Edmister, Virginia Tech; Bevlee Watford, Virginia Tech; Jean Kampe, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Assistant Director of the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Sate University. She received her M.S. in Counselor Education, Student Affairs Administration from Radford University and M.S. in Career and Technical Education and B.S. in Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise both from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Sate University. Page 11.887.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 Lessons Learned: Implementing a Large-Scale Peer Mentoring ProgramAbstractBeginning in 1992 with the creation of the

Conference Session

FPD6 -- Early Intervention & Retention Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey Froyd; Xiafeng Li, Texas A&M University; Arun Srinivasa, Texas A&M University; William Bassichis, Texas A&M University; Jacque Hodge, Texas A&M University; Donald Maxwell, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

year, faculty members elected to focusonly on Track A students.In the STEPS curriculum, engineering, physics, and mathematics faculty members haveconstructed a curriculum to help students more closely link concepts from the three subject areas.Engineering faculty members have also constructed functional requirements for engineeringdesign projects to help students build tighter connections among the three subjects and tofacilitate broad adoption of the curriculum. Based on the functional requirements projectsshould: ‚ Anchor concepts of physics and mathematics in an engineering task ‚ Relate to social and practical needs to help students connect course to career ‚ Relate to specific follow-on engineering classes ‚ Require