Board 108: Development of an Activity Centric Engineering Course to Teach Excel, MATLAB, and Engineering Math for High School Students (Work In Progress)

Lynn A. Albers; Richard J. Puerzer

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Conference: 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Tampa, Florida
Publication Date: June 15, 2019
Start Date: June 15, 2019
End Date: June 19, 2019
Conference Session: Pre-College Engineering Education Division Poster Session
Tagged Division: Pre-College Engineering Education
Page Count: 7
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--32180
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/32180
Download Count: 351

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Paper Authors

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Lynn A. Albers Hofstra University

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Dr. Lynn Albers is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering of the Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science at Hofstra University. Her previous academic contribution was as one of the founding five faculty/staff at Campbell University, helping the newly formed School of Engineering grow and establish roots in the community. A proponent of Hands-On Activities in the classroom and during out-of-school time programs, she believes that they complement any teaching style thereby reaching all learning styles. She earned her doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University specializing in thermal sciences where her dissertation research spanned three colleges and focused on Engineering Education. Her passions include but are not limited to Engineering Education, Energy Engineering and Conservation, and K-20 STEM Outreach.
Prior to matriculating at NCSU, she worked at the North Carolina Solar Center developing a passion for wind and solar energy research while learning renewable energy policy. She combined these passions with K-20 STEM Outreach while a National Science Foundation Fellow with the GK-12 Outreach Program at NCSU where she began Energy Clubs, an out-of-school-time program for third, fourth and fifth graders to introduce them to renewable energy.

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Richard J. Puerzer Hofstra University

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Richard J. Puerzer is an Associate Professor of engineering at Hofstra University, where he is the Chairperson of the Engineering Department.

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Abstract

Hofstra University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences first discussed plans to create and offer a high school engineering course that was MATLAB centric in 2016. After many lessons learned, the university has taken a new approach in 2018 to develop material and assessments designed for high school instructors to offer an engineering course to students that will satisfy their graduation requirements as well as one of the university’s (and other universities) first-year engineering course requirements. The objective of the course is to inspire high school students to pursue engineering as a career with the added bonus of placing out of a first year engineering course. They have the option to register with the university for a fee of $390. Those who register and earn a B or better will receive a transcript from the university showing satisfactory completion of this requirement. This can be used to place out of the first-year engineering course at the university as well as other universities. To date, two students have reported that they are able to place out of their first-year requirement at two other universities. An activity centric global learning approach with modules designed to be used as needed to cover the learning objectives is being utilized. Planning and development of the idea, process, and materials began in August of 2018 and is being piloted during the Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 semesters. The activities help build communication, collaboration, and cooperation skills. The modules are designed to cover individual learning objectives in Math, MATLAB, and Excel. Instructors will have the flexibility to combine modules with activities based on the need of the students. Currently, three exams are being used to assess proficiency and impact on learning. Students will be assessed at the end of the Spring semester on their perception of learning via this approach. However, a new assessment to replace exams is being developed and will be analyzed for the future. This is a work in progress. Long term plans include but are not limited to continuing to develop materials and assessments, providing professional development for instructors, and tracking the number of students entering engineering programs.

Citation
Format

Albers, L. A., & Puerzer, R. J. (2019, June), Board 108: Development of an Activity Centric Engineering Course to Teach Excel, MATLAB, and Engineering Math for High School Students (Work In Progress) Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--32180

TY - CPAPER
AB - Hofstra University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences first discussed plans to create and offer a high school engineering course that was MATLAB centric in 2016. After many lessons learned, the university has taken a new approach in 2018 to develop material and assessments designed for high school instructors to offer an engineering course to students that will satisfy their graduation requirements as well as one of the university’s (and other universities) first-year engineering course requirements. The objective of the course is to inspire high school students to pursue engineering as a career with the added bonus of placing out of a first year engineering course. They have the option to register with the university for a fee of $390. Those who register and earn a B or better will receive a transcript from the university showing satisfactory completion of this requirement. This can be used to place out of the first-year engineering course at the university as well as other universities. To date, two students have reported that they are able to place out of their first-year requirement at two other universities.
An activity centric global learning approach with modules designed to be used as needed to cover the learning objectives is being utilized. Planning and development of the idea, process, and materials began in August of 2018 and is being piloted during the Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 semesters. The activities help build communication, collaboration, and cooperation skills. The modules are designed to cover individual learning objectives in Math, MATLAB, and Excel. Instructors will have the flexibility to combine modules with activities based on the need of the students.
Currently, three exams are being used to assess proficiency and impact on learning. Students will be assessed at the end of the Spring semester on their perception of learning via this approach. However, a new assessment to replace exams is being developed and will be analyzed for the future.
This is a work in progress. Long term plans include but are not limited to continuing to develop materials and assessments, providing professional development for instructors, and tracking the number of students entering engineering programs.
AU - Lynn A. Albers
AU - Richard J. Puerzer
CY - Tampa, Florida
DA - 2019/06/15
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Board 108: Development of an Activity Centric Engineering Course to Teach Excel, MATLAB, and Engineering Math for High School Students (Work In Progress)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/32180
DO - 10.18260/1-2--32180
ER -