EDGE 2013 Program – a Redesign Work in Progress

Dan G. Dimitriu; Jerry O'Connor

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Conference: 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Publication Date: June 15, 2014
Start Date: June 15, 2014
End Date: June 18, 2014
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Enhancing Success/Peristence at Two-Year Colleges
Tagged Division: Two Year College Division
Page Count: 21
Page Numbers: 24.446.1 - 24.446.21
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--20337
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/20337
Download Count: 430

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Paper Authors

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Dan G. Dimitriu San Antonio College

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DAN G. DIMITRIU is a licensed Professional Engineer that holds a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Engineering and an M.B.A. in International Economic Relations. He has been practicing engineering internationally since 1970 in various industries and taught engineering courses concurrently for more than 20 years at various institutions. In 2001, he joined San Antonio College full-time as the Coordinator of its Engineering Program. He has been involved with several engineering societies and became a member of the Two-year College Division of ASEE in 2002. His research interests are in renewable energy, plastics, robotics, and engineering education.

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Jerry O'Connor San Antonio College

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Jerry O’Connor has been teaching physics (along with a few engineering and math) courses since 1980. He is currently Department Chairperson, and has persistently promoted and supported the integration of findings from physics and engineering education research with education practice.

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Abstract

EDGE 2013 Program – A Redesign Work in ProgressAbstractThis paper presents a very brief description and history of the EDGE (EarlyDevelopment of General Engineering) Summer Bridge Program that was initiatedin 2003 and focuses on the latest iteration of the program. This project wasinitially supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation and morerecently by grants from Department of Education.At first the program was intended for well-prepared high school students in the10th and 11th grades who would have participated in the San Antonio Pre-freshman Engineering Program (PREP) while in middle school. EDGE wasdesigned to pick up where PREP left off by introducing them to college levelcourse work as a learning community and providing activities to help themdevelop independent learning and teamwork skills with the goal of increasingtheir likelihood of earning a college degree in engineering, science, math, or otherrelated field. The original courses offered were Introduction to Engineering andCollege Algebra.Since the desired student population did not materialize in sufficient numbers, itbecame necessary to revise the program to accommodate students who were notprepared for College Algebra. The next two program iterations includedIntroduction to Computing and then Introductory Physics as substitutes, alongwith self-paced computer-based math enrichment programs such as Plato.One of the annual modifications involved adding a robotics project.After continuing efforts to create a stable sustained program did not bear fruit, acomprehensive examination and redesign of the program was conducted for 2013.The new version would be developed as a two year program. The first year wouldprepare students for College Algebra by boosting their Math proficiency andhelping them acquire a strong college student identity. The second year wouldintroduce them to college level Engineering.For the 2013 edition of the program we offered only the first year component,with the intent of offering both components the following year, for returningstudents as well as the new ones. The robotics project, which had become verypopular with students, was refined and diversified to include two sequential yearsof activities and challenges. This enhancement provides increased opportunity forour students to diversify their design and programming skills.The paper will present rationales for modifications and provide a detailed analysisof the program results along with the planned developments for the 2014 EDGEProgram.

Citation
Format

Dimitriu, D. G., & O'Connor, J. (2014, June), EDGE 2013 Program – a Redesign Work in Progress Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--20337

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -         EDGE 2013 Program – A Redesign Work in ProgressAbstractThis paper presents a very brief description and history of the EDGE (EarlyDevelopment of General Engineering) Summer Bridge Program that was initiatedin 2003 and focuses on the latest iteration of the program. This project wasinitially supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation and morerecently by grants from Department of Education.At first the program was intended for well-prepared high school students in the10th and 11th grades who would have participated in the San Antonio Pre-freshman Engineering Program (PREP) while in middle school. EDGE wasdesigned to pick up where PREP left off by introducing them to college levelcourse work as a learning community and providing activities to help themdevelop independent learning and teamwork skills with the goal of increasingtheir likelihood of earning a college degree in engineering, science, math, or otherrelated field. The original courses offered were Introduction to Engineering andCollege Algebra.Since the desired student population did not materialize in sufficient numbers, itbecame necessary to revise the program to accommodate students who were notprepared for College Algebra. The next two program iterations includedIntroduction to Computing and then Introductory Physics as substitutes, alongwith self-paced computer-based math enrichment programs such as Plato.One of the annual modifications involved adding a robotics project.After continuing efforts to create a stable sustained program did not bear fruit, acomprehensive examination and redesign of the program was conducted for 2013.The new version would be developed as a two year program. The first year wouldprepare students for College Algebra by boosting their Math proficiency andhelping them acquire a strong college student identity. The second year wouldintroduce them to college level Engineering.For the 2013 edition of the program we offered only the first year component,with the intent of offering both components the following year, for returningstudents as well as the new ones. The robotics project, which had become verypopular with students, was refined and diversified to include two sequential yearsof activities and challenges. This enhancement provides increased opportunity forour students to diversify their design and programming skills.The paper will present rationales for modifications and provide a detailed analysisof the program results along with the planned developments for the 2014 EDGEProgram.
AU  - Dan G. Dimitriu
AU  - Jerry O'Connor
CY  - Indianapolis, Indiana
DA  - 2014/06/15
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - EDGE 2013 Program – a Redesign Work in Progress
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/20337
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--20337
ER  -