Conference Session

Best Practices for Two-Year Students Majoring in Engineering & STEM Fields

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen M. Groppi P.E., Cabrillo College; Susan Tappero, Cabrillo College

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

with an interest in renewable energy or sustainability but, typically,little previous coursework in math or science. Each cohort had 8 student peer leaders orTAs, who were committed STEM majors and served as mentors and teaching assistants.The emphasis was on hands-on activities within small teams in a daily four hour labsetting. An important component was built-in time for tinkering and creativity aroundcontextualized assignments. Unlike most college experiences, the desired outcome was toprovoke interest rather than to impart a specific body of knowledge. Participation,exploration and fun were valued over the rigidity often found in STEM instruction. A widerange of approaches were used including; demonstrations, games, hands-on activities

Conference Session

Two-year College Division: Authors Address Transfer Matters-Part I

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carl Whitesel, Mesa Community College; Adam R. Carberry, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

their response in the first tier, with an option for them to write a response in their own words. Tier 3: Questions related to subjects’ confidence in their answers to the first two tiers. Responses were via a 100-point range on a Likert scale with 10-unit increments.This multi-tiered approach was consistent with prior approaches in the literature4,5.This paper extends the work of others by applying prior research on self-efficacy and conceptualknowledge of circuit analysis to a community college engineering student population.Literature ReviewSelf-EfficacyMany research studies in engineering education use self-efficacy theory to frame studentmotivation. Self-efficacy is a context-specific predictor of performance6 that

Conference Session

Focus on the Classroom: Novel Approaches to Course Delivery

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elaine L. Craft, Florence-Darlington Technical College; Donna Kay Chrislip; Rex Allen Parr; Victoria Alexandra Sauber, Arapahoe Community College

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

, problem-solving, communication, knowledge of business processes, teamwork, and agood work ethic, that can leverage the technical skills for greater impact for both the companyand the worker. Likewise, through their survey of 200 companies (2006), the metro-DenverWIRED Initiative discovered a need for technical workers with a broader-than-expected range ofskills, i.e. a call for technical workers to have solid writing, marketing, leadership, or sales skills.When evaluating job applicants, businesses surveyed indicated they value experience and skills,most, and find that applicants do not have the required written and verbal communication skillsthey need to be viable candidates. Based on a 2007 study, the Indiana Business Research Centerpredicted