Conference Session

Arduinos, Microcontrollers, Inexpensive Robotics, and Other Tech Bytes

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Tremberger Jr., Queensborough Community College, CUNY; Raul Armendariz Ph.D., Queensborough Community College, CUNY; Helio Takai, Brookhaven National Laboratory; Todd Holden, Queensborough Community College, CUNY; Shermane Austin, Medgar Evers College, CUNY; Leon P. Johnson, Medgar Evers College, CUNY; Paul J. Marchese, Queensborough Community College, CUNY; David H. Lieberman, Queensborough Community College, CUNY; Tak Cheung, Queensborough Community College, CUNY

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

movements and light (vision) data collection. Studentshaving trouble with NXT programming would generally not be able to progress toLabVIEW programming. NASA uses graphical programming (LabView) for control anddata collection in critical missions. A special exercise has been implemented to mimicthe NASA Mars Pathfinder operating principles. The exercise aims to teach theprinciples of robotic vision and data communication. The goal is to illustrate thegraphical programming control of vision via reflectivity measurement and datacommunication to third party computing environment such as Excel.Lego NXT block programming is used to measure reflectivity changes as a function ofelapsed time. Vision requires reflectivity measurements. The program reads

Conference Session

Two-year Institutions Help Fill the STEM Pipeline

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George D. Ford, Western Carolina University; Robert Elliot Steffen, Western Carolina University; Robert Wayne Ford, Western Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

facultyand administrators should be especially cognizant of retention rates, and the relationship of SATscores to the successful completion of their programs by their students.A linear regression model to predict an expected campus freshman retention rate was producedusing average campus SAT scores. Initial examination indicates that some campuses have loweraverage freshman retention rates than other campuses due substantially to the level of freshmanhigh school preparation as reflected by Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores. Studentperformance on the SAT is a primary indicator of first year student success, but other factors mayalso influence retention and provide opportunities for faculty and administrators to improveretention rates above

Conference Session

Retention and Two-year to Four-year Transfer

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lori Heymans, Northern Essex Community College; Michael E. Pelletier, Northern Essex Community College; Linda A. Desjardins, Northern Essex Community College; Paul J. Chanley, Northern Essex Community College

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

baseline of participant knowledge of topicsthat would be covered in the SBP. After the pre-test, the engineering design process wasintroduced and discussed. The participants’ first activity was to create a basic type of DC circuitthat included a small light bulb. Following the Ohm’s Law and Watt’s Law activity, theparticipants built both series and parallel DC electric circuits using batteries and electrical loadsmounted on bases which snapped together. The students were asked to put the experimental datainto tables and provide graphs of voltage vs. current. Once all the electric circuit activities werefinished, time was dedicated to reflecting on material learned and discussing the engineeringconnection to the activities.On the second day, a

Conference Session

Two-year Institutions Help Fill the STEM Pipeline

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Farzin Heidari, Texas A&M University, Kingsville

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

local industries. South Texas College (STC) in McAllen is the onlytechnical college in South Texas offering Computer Aided Design / Computer AidedManufacturing, Drafting for Special Occupations, and Machine Drafting9. The STC degree plananalysis clearly demonstrates an evolutionary attempt to meet industry demands towardadvanced manufacturing training.Technology coursework amongst all six South Texas Technical College degree plans reflects astrong emphasis in manual machine tool training. Texas State Technical College, South TexasCollege, Del Mar College, Texas South-most College, and Coastal Bend College offer 24 credithours, 11 credit hours, 42 credit hours, 24 credit hours, and 23 credit hours respectively inmanual machine tool training9

Conference Session

Two-year Institutions Help Fill the STEM Pipeline

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elaine P. Scott, Seattle Pacific University; Hannah F. Azevedo, Seattle Pacific University

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

addressing the student’s professionalism and character; • Motivation, based on the personal reflection statement, addressing the applicant’s motive and commitment to obtain a degree in engineering and join the engineering workforce or continue in graduate studies.Students apply for the scholarship according to university-established timelines. Applicants arefirst screened by the University’s Student Financial Services to determine financial eligibility.The ECASE Selection committee reviews financially eligible applicants using the criteriaoutlined above. Students are be ranked according to their potential for academic success(according to grade point averages; courses completed; and reference letters), professionalism(based on

Conference Session

Retention and Two-year to Four-year Transfer

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Margaret Krudysz, City College of the City University of New York; Ardie D. Walser, City College of the City University of New York; Annita Alting, City College of the City University of New York

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

could use to transfer into the engineering (and computer science)program/s at the 4-year institution. These core courses are selected so as to reflect the first twoyears of a four- year engineering program. While this model is certainly reasonable, it does havesome major weaknesses. Many engineering schools have engineering programs in classic areassuch as civil, chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering with a number of courses, inmathematics and science, in common. However, the first two years of an engineering programcan have subtle but significant differences in course requirements that are specific to that major.If the new transfer student stays on track with their initial choice for a major, there is no problem.But, should the

Conference Session

Making Headway: Two-year/Four-year Curriculum Alignment and Also U-G Research

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James K. Nelson Jr. P.E., University of Texas, Tyler; Mary Eileen Smith, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; Martha M. Ellis

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

degree is course based. Whilepartnerships and articulation agreements exist to assist with this transfer process, the pathwaystend to be institutionally course focused. The arrangement of courses is appropriate whenstudents stay at one institution for the entire baccalaureate program. Changes in the field can bereadily reflected in adjustments to the curriculum while the student is studying at the university.Unfortunately, this is not the case when the student transfers among institutions. To amelioratethese issues, the traditional articulated foundation curriculum tends to be overloaded with anabundance of challenging courses in the later semesters.The tuning process is based on a body of knowledge and skills to be acquired across the four