Conference Session

Introducing Programming in the First Year

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven Gordon, The Ohio State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

AC 2010-869: USING COMPUTER MODELING PROBLEMS FORUNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING EDUCATIONSteven Gordon, The Ohio State University Page 15.1321.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Using Computer Modeling Problems for Undergraduate Engineering EducationAbstractModeling and simulation can be used to implement inquiry-based learning in engineeringcourses that actively involve students in the learning process, improve their problem-solvingskills, and encourage them to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, andMathematics (STEM) disciplines. This approach was used in the creation of a thirteen dayworkshop for college credit for high

Conference Session

Research on The First Year II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Catherine Pieronek, University of Notre Dame; Kerry Meyers, University of Notre Dame; Sara Skiles, University of Notre Dame; Sean Kelly, University of Notre Dame; Leo McWilliams, University of Notre Dame

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

profession. Course enrollments range from 300 to 400 students annually.Over seven years (Classes of 2005 through 2011, referring to the expected four-year graduationyear of the entering first-year class), students have participated in in-class surveys three timesduring the course of the year: at the beginning and the end of the fall semester, and at the end ofthe spring semester. The survey questions related to, among other things, demographics, priorexperiences, interests and future career goals. We analyzed the aggregate responses of thesestudent cohorts for statistically significant differences, and evaluated the data in progressiveregression models to predict student retention into the sophomore year (as determined by astudent’s self-selection

Conference Session

Mentoring First Year Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rose Marra, University of Missouri; Whitney Edmister, Virginia Tech; Bevlee Watford, Virginia Tech; Barbara Bogue, Pennsylvania State University; Chia-Lin Tsai, University of Missouri; Fleur Gooden, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Engineering award due to her efforts to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of under-represented students in engineering.Barbara Bogue, Pennsylvania State University BARBARA BOGUE is Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics and Women in Engineering. She is Co-Director of AWE and AWISE. Her research interests include recruitment and retention of women in engineering, assessment and career development.Chia-Lin Tsai, University of MissouriFleur Gooden, Virginia Tech FLEUR N. GOODEN is a graduate assistant in the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She received her B.S. in Computer Science and

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary First Year Programs

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Hinds, Michigan State University; Thomas Wolff, Michigan State University; Amanda Idema, Michigan State University; Neeraj Buch, Michigan State University; Carmellia Davis-King, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Orleans levees in hurricane Katrina. As Associate Dean, he oversees curriculum, advising, career planning, study abroad, early engineering and other related initiatives.Neeraj Buch, Michigan State University NEERAJ BUCH is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University. He is also the Director of the Cornerstone Engineering and Engineering Residential Experience program at Michigan State University. He earned his M.S. degree in pavement engineering in 1988 from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his Ph.D. in pavement and materials engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, in 1995. Dr. Buch began his academic

Conference Session

Mentoring First Year Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daina Briedis, Michigan State Univesity; Nathaniel Ehrlich, Michigan State University; Colleen McDonough, Michigan State University; Jon Sticklen, Michigan State University; Thomas Wolff, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

being that this type of FIgoes elsewhere largely because she feels isolated, disconnected, and adrift. Faculty engagementwith the student can make the difference between the student's remaining in engineering andchoosing a different, seemingly “friendlier” career path.The subgoals of the CF program are to  link early engineering students to engineering faculty and  project the core value of the College of Engineering that engineering faculty care about the early engineering students.Studies have repeatedly shown that one important factor in promoting early student engagementin coursework is the degree to which the students perceive that the instructor wants the students

Conference Session

Introducing Programming in the First Year

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gregory Bucks, Purdue University; William Oakes, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

an important concept for engineers and engineering students. Challengesexist for educators trying to introduce students to design early in their academic careers. Onechallenge is that students do not have much knowledge upon which to build a design from. Theyhave not had their engineering coursework yet and do not have the tools to do sophisticateddesigns. A fall back is to have students do simple designs that do not require much, if any,iteration and hardly any analysis. Students can have fun working on these design projects, butthey, in general, are not real designs and the students know they are not real. Trying to introducea human-centered design approach is doubly challenging for early students because they arelimited to what they can

Conference Session

Design in the First Year

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Pacella, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Taryn Bayles, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

ourcells, thus increasing the total energy we could capture without paying for additionalphotoelectric cells. Many other groups used various permutations of turbines to captureeither wind or hydraulic power.Observations and Impressions from a Student’s Perspective: At the time, as a freshman engineer I initially viewed this design project as simplyanother source of stress in my life; however, as our design evolved into the final product Ibecame quite proud of our accomplishment. This design project represented the first timein my academic career I had truly used synthesis in a project; looking back on this projectas a senior, I doubt I will ever forget this first milestone in my career as an engineer.This project also introduced me to the

Conference Session

Mentoring First Year Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steve Rippon, Arizona State University; James Collofello, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

scenarios and develop poster boards that demonstrate thosesolutions. The Grand Challenges Curriculum, likewise, is facilitated by faculty and uses aninteractive approach for students to think about what challenges our society faces, contemplatetheir role as engineers in finding solutions to those challenges, and learning how their notionsalign with those of current engineers. Students also have the opportunity to engage with facultymembers during meals and other down times and get to know them as people, breaking downsome of the fears and other barriers that often keep freshmen students reluctant to approachfaculty members. The faculty interaction plays a key role in strengthening student commitmentto career goals.Helping freshmen understand and

Conference Session

Administering First-Year Programs

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Russell Korte, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; David Goldberg, University of Illinois, Urbana

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

learning, that is the importance of thecommunity experience for students. This change in view was exemplified by the statementcontrasting the traditional educational experience with what we endeavored to create foriFoundry. For example, at the first meeting we told students that traditionally, professors wouldask freshmen to look to their right and look to their left, and that one or two of the three wouldnot be there next year. We proposed a variation on this tradition by asking students to look totheir left and look to their right, and realize that these were the people that would help thembecome successful in their academic and career efforts. This example illustrated the importanceof community to the learning experience.Design Principles for

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary First Year Programs

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ismail Jouny, Lafayette College; Polly Piergiovanni, Lafayette College

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

session, a professor from a particular disciplineintroduces his/her discipline and answers any questions about it. The second hour isstructured so that students research the particular discipline, for example, finding outwhat graduates in the field do, average salary, employment statistics, outlook, potentialfor graduate study, national needs, potential for advancement, career outlook, etc.Students purchase a textbook about engineering graphics and will be required to completeseveral graphics assignments. Students benefit from access to online tutoring material,some interactive sessions with an instructor, and questions and answers sessions spreadthroughout the semester.Enrollment in this course is currently capped at 16 students, with 8 lab

Conference Session

Mentoring First Year Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh; Alaine Allen, University of Pittsburgh; Jeremy Tartt, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

fly, run, walk, or drive home. There will be days where thestudent feels they cannot stand one more day in the residence halls, in the large lecture, with theirroommate, with their professors and teaching assistants, or their load of courses. These personaltransitions can consume a first year student’s thoughts if they are unable to seriously focus on Page 15.343.3why the university experience is important to their career goals. Insights from mentors can bevery helpful. There may be what appear to be insurmountable personal changes during the firstyear, and research on student persistence supports the importance of linking students

Conference Session

Service Learning and Societal Issues in the First Year

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John K. Estell, Ohio Northern University; Kenneth Reid, Ohio Northern University; Jed Marquart, Ohio Northern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

careers in the future." • "My most rewarding aspect throughout the quarter would have to be between the interactions with my fellow students, seeing our prototype actually prove its concept, and using knowledge from the year to accomplish our goals. After two quarters of limited student involvement, finally getting to work in a group setting for more than a week was extremely rewarding to me." • "I have learned how surprisingly hard it is to work as a team to come to a solution." • "Another way that the course has helped me grow is by forcing me to become a better leader by getting a group of four people to work together effectively on one goal." • "This project also helped better my understanding of

Conference Session

Research on the First Year I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Javarro Russell, James Madison University; Olga Pierrakos, James Madison University; Megan France, James Madison University; Ronald Kander, James Madison University; Robin Anderson, James Madison University; Heather Watson, James Madison University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

. This latter project is funded through her recent NSF CAREER award. Her other research interests lie in cardiovascular fluid mechanics, sustainability research, and K-12 engineering outreach.Megan France, James Madison University MEGAN FRANCE is a doctoral student in the Assessment and Measurement program at James Madison University. As a Graduate Assistant for the Center for Assessment and Research Studies, she serves as an assessment consultant to academic programs and serves as a graduate research assistant on engineering education related research.Ronald Kander, James Madison University Ronald Kander is professor and Director of the School of Engineering at James Madison University

Conference Session

Design in the First Year

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Bennett, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Will Schleter, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

have atleast one good team experience, and one bad team experience, helping them to learn what makesan effective team. We also want students to meet and get to know other engineering students.Anecdotally this has led to students forming good friendships and study groups that last throughtheir college career. A final method of team assignment is self-selection. Care is taken to forcethis selection to be done outside of the normal class time to minimize the peer-pressure involvedin having students form their own teams. Assistance is provided for those who aren’t able toidentify a team. An implicit result of this method of assignment is that students discover thattheir immediate friends don’t always make the best team members.Online Feedback

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary First Year Programs

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Lowery, West Virginia University; Steve Kane, West Virginia University; Vicki Kane, West Virginia University; Robin Hensel, West Virginia University; Gary Ganser, West Virginia University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

often perform poorly in their first calculus course. Working from the perceptionthat first year engineering students do not make the connection between what they learn incalculus and the problems they solve in freshman engineering, the faculty who teach theengineering sections of first semester calculus and the faculty who teach freshman engineeringworked together to define projects that span both classes.The primary goal of these projects was to show students how the concepts and techniques theywere learning in math class were relevant to their future career in engineering. It was proposedand believed that if the students understood the connection between the two subjects, they wouldunderstand both subjects better and be motivated to work

Conference Session

Potpourri of First-Year Issues

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Farid Farahmand, Sonoma State University; Saeid Moslehpour, University of Hartford

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

promoting racial understanding),self-efficacy, leadership, choice of a service career, and plans to participate in serviceafter college 2.In the past few years service-learning has become increasingly common pedagogy inengineering programs around the globe. One reason for its popularity is the industry’sdesire for individuals with the communication and collaboration skills who are betterequipped for working in a global context 3,4.In the United States, many different universities have also incorporated service-learninginto their curricula5. Perhaps the best well-known example is the Engineering Projects inCommunity Service (EPICS) program8 created by Purdue University in 1995 and now itincludes 18 universities. Under this program freshman to senior

Conference Session

Design in the First Year

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sami Khorbotly, Ohio Northern University; Kenneth Reid, Ohio Northern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

interdisciplinary teams, students had to split up the tasksin the project and team members were required to have effective intra-team communication. Teams weretasked to develop and submit a team charter to the instructor.Project AssignmentFrom the instructor’s point of view, the biggest challenge of an interdisciplinary capstone course isidentifying a project to be assigned. The project must be selected while keeping in mind that the assigneesare only freshman-level students without any significant engineering background since at this point intheir careers, they are not yet exposed to circuits, electronics, statics, or materials classes. In the sametime, the class must be involved enough to keep students busy for most of the quarter and to satisfy

Conference Session

Research on the First Year I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Senay Purzer, Purdue University; Jing Chen, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Page 15.1170.3explicitly discussed in practice or in engineering textbooks. Engineering decision-makingis taught implicitly using learning by “doing” approach, as part of introducing design andproblem solving early in students academic career in college. Blandford, Cross, andScanlon1 argue that the model of learning decision-making skills by “doing design” islimited and that students should be taught how to use the most appropriate decisionstrategies. Other researchers also argue for the use of explicit decision support methodssuch as Quality Function Deployment (an application of multi-attribute utility theory forchoosing among designs) or similar decision strategies, such as Pugh’s chart8 and 18.Despite the importance of decision-making in

Conference Session

Research on the First Year I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Beverly Jaeger, Northeastern University; Susan Freeman, Northeastern University; Richard Whalen, Northeastern University; Rebecca Payne, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

characteristic and map it to student success.4 However, first we will discussthe benchmark predictors which are in current use.Conventional Predictors of SuccessAs educators we have all too often seen intelligent students who lack desire and ambition, thesestudents sometimes will generate only average or even poorer quality work than peers ofseemingly less talent. Conversely, we relish the students who might be described as less giftedfor learning who triumph over their limitations to produce stellar work because they work hardand aspire to be the best. There has been a significant amount of research done attempting toqualify and quantify success in education, life, and career. This is a clear indicator of thecomplexity of the problem at hand and it is

Conference Session

Research on the First Year I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Cassady, University of Arkansas; Gigi Secuban, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

relative to grading is placed on submitting complete, correct, andneat homework in a timely fashion. Most FEP students find that achieving a high grade in GNEG1111 and GNEG 1121 is a result of beginning assignments in a timely fashion, diligentlyfollowing directions, and taking advantage of resources available for assistance. As such, theFEP faculty and staff consider the grades in GNEG 1111 and GNEG 1121 to be accuratemeasures of the students’ work ethic.The Introduction to Engineering course sequence also provides a forum for many activitiesrelated to CoE major selection, career development (resumes, interview skills, job searchstrategies, coops and internships, etc.), academic skills development (note taking, test preparationstrategies, etc

Conference Session

Research on the First Year I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chirag Variawa, University of Toronto; Susan McCahan, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

., and C. Coates. "Attracting Minorities to Engineering Careers: Addressing theChallenges from k-12 to Post Secondary Education." ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, ConferenceProceedings (2009).26 de Cohen, C., and N. Deterding. "Widening the Net: National Estimates of Gender Disparities inEngineering." Journal of Engineering Education. 98.3 (2009): 211-226.27 Buchmann, C. "Gender Inequalities in the Transition to College." Teachers College record 111.10 (2009): 2320.28 Leicht-Scholten, C., Weheliye, A. and A. Wolffram. "Institutionalisation of Gender and Diversity Management inEngineering Education." European Journal of Engineering Education 34.5 (2009): 447.29 Garforth, L., and A. Kerr. "Women and Science: What's the Problem

Conference Session

Innovations in First Year Programs

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Lewis, University of Louisville; Jeffrey Hieb, University of Louisville; David Wheatley, University of Louisville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

students are explicitlytaught the model as soon as possible in their educational careers. In the School of Engineering,Introduction to Engineering was the most logical place to begin teaching critical thinking, and todeliberately and explicitly explain the Paul-Elder model to students. Additional reasons forplacing a heavy emphasis on critical thinking in Introduction to Engineering is our belief that: • Critical thinking is a core engineering activity, • Students need to learn early on to be aware of their thinking process, • If students like to think, then they will like engineering.Introduction to Engineering has several specific critical thinking goals. Students should be moreconscious of critical thinking and its role in both

Conference Session

Administering First-Year Programs

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gretchen Hein, Michigan Technological University; Amber Kemppainen, Michigan Technological University; Susan Amato-Henderson, Michigan Technological University; Jason Keith, Michigan Technological University; Melissa Roberts, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Conference Session

Service Learning and Societal Issues in the First Year

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carol Sevier, Boise State University; Seung Youn Chyung, Boise State University; Cheryl Schrader, Boise State University; Janet Callahan, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

impact of a SL method on student learning and retention. This study investigated students’ motivational attitudes and self-assessment of engineering abilities. It is hypothesized that positive motivational attitudes and self-assessment of abilities would result in deeper understandings of engineering and continuous motivation to pursue engineering as a career. More research should be conducted to test the hypothesis. ≠ Design engineering curricula with instructional strategies such as SL that contribute to meeting ABET program outcomes. As shown in the literature review, engineering educators have successfully designed and implemented SL in their curricula to achieve ABET program outcomes. This study