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

thesesoft skills are being successfully learned and transferred to the students.6,12 The focus of thiswork is on what is not being learned, what is still lacking as students move through ourprograms.An example of the Unwritten Syllabus can be found in lessons learned by first-year studentsgrappling with course policies and procedures that are different than they have previouslyencountered. Course policies may be listed in the written syllabus or may only be explainedverbally at the start of a semester. An example of a new procedure deals with the oft-repeatedquestion: “When is it due?” High school teachers often take on the role of ‘reminder-in-chief’,posting due dates in the classroom and frequently pointing them out. This does not match theadult

Conference Session

FPD IV: Innovative Curriculum Elements of Successful First-year Courses

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robin A.M. Hensel Ed.D., West Virginia University; Ordel Brown Ph.D., West Virginia University; Mary L. Strife, West Virginia University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

andtechnical papers which not only inform their research11,12 but provide high quality examples ofvarious types of technical communication13.The first engineering problem solving course that first-year students take at West VirginiaUniversity, a large land-grant university in the mid-Atlantic region, requires students to write atleast two technical reports. Students, typically, have difficulty with the following: (1)understanding the parts of a technical report; (2) defining and avoiding plagiarism; (3) evaluatingtheir online sources; and (4) finding appropriate sources from which to perform a literaturesearch for background information on their assigned topic.To address these issues, engineering faculty collaborated with campus librarians14,15 to: (1

Conference Session

FPD VII: Research on First-year Programs Part II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie M. Little-Wiles M.S.M., Ph.D. (A.B.D.), Purdue University, West Lafayette; Stephen Hundley, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; Wanda L. Worley, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; Erich J. Bauer, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

tools withtheir courses? And does this embracement and usage change over time?This study examined both the embracement and usage patterns of a group of freshman studentswith an online learning management system in the School of Engineering and Technology atIndiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) through their first 18 months. Asurvey was administered twice, once following the first semester of the freshman year and oncemidway through the first semester of the sophomore year. The survey questions focused onevaluating the amount of engagement and usage of the learning management system. Severalopen-ended questions concentrated on learning what students found especially difficult innavigating the environment; how they perceive

Conference Session

First-year Programs Poster Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Reap, Virginia Tech; Holly M. Matusovich, Virginia Tech; Rachel A. Louis, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

, thecommon syllabus and lecture materials used in the courses provided continuity over sections.The course is designed to introduce students to engineering and includes topics such asapproaches to problem-solving, developing familiarity with different engineering majors,graphing, flowcharts, basic programming, sketching, and ethics. We implemented a pre/post Page 25.306.4survey design using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). We addedseveral open-ended questions to the posttest to help us understand any measured changes. Thefollowing sections describe the challenges, participants, data collection, and data