Rabb, R. J., & Bubacz, M., & Howison, J., & Skenes, K. (2016, June), Effects of Readiness Initiatives on Mechanical Engineering Retention and Success  Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26917

\bibitem{asee_peer_26917}
  Rabb, R. J., \& Bubacz, M., \& Howison, J., \& Skenes, K. (2016, June), \emph{Effects of Readiness Initiatives on Mechanical Engineering Retention and Success}
  Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana.
  10.18260/p.26917

Robert J. Rabb P.E., Monika Bubacz, Jason Howison, and Kevin Skenes.  "Effects of Readiness Initiatives on Mechanical Engineering Retention and Success".  2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2016, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2016.  https://peer.asee.org/26917 Internet.  24 Apr, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_26917}
  Robert J. Rabb P.E., Monika Bubacz, Jason Howison, and Kevin Skenes.
  "Effects of Readiness Initiatives on Mechanical Engineering Retention and Success".
  \emph{2016 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2016, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2016.
  https://peer.asee.org/26917 Internet.  24 Apr, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_26917
author = "Robert J. Rabb P.E., Monika Bubacz, Jason Howison, and Kevin Skenes"
title = "Effects of Readiness Initiatives on Mechanical Engineering Retention and Success"
booktitle = "2016 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2016"
month = "June"
address = "New Orleans, Louisiana"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/26917}
number = {10.18260/p.26917}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Many students enter engineering programs with high levels of interest and excitement but change majors or leave early in the first two years.  To assist the transition of students from high school to the rigor of college level engineering courses, The (Institution) developed a math review program and changed the science curriculum to attract and retain more engineering students.  The (Institution) recently launched a new mechanical engineering program that saw over 10% of the incoming freshman class select it as their major.  During the second year over 15% of the new freshmen class selected the mechanical engineering major.  Both years had more than twice the enrollment of what was expected. The challenge was to make these students successful and keep as many of them in the program as possible.  During the second year, the Math Review was offered and provided a two and a half week (10 sessions) review of Pre-Calculus designed to prepare students for different freshman math courses.  An indirect benefit of the Math Review was the encouragement of good work habits early in the semester with daily work and learning where to find help.  Implementation of the Math Review showed success in creating a sense of community among the mechanical engineering students and reducing withdrawals from math courses or changes of major at the same point the year before.  A similar math review with emphasis put on engineering quantities and units was administered during the first few classes in the freshman mechanical engineering 101 course.  Student involvement was reinforced by assigning computational homework after each class. A second initiative was also implemented. Chemistry 1 and 2, required of all mechanical engineers, were reorganized into a new course, Chemistry for Engineers which focused on specific topics for the mechanical engineering major versus the broader scope of the former courses.  In conjunction with the Chemistry for Engineers, a new Biology for Engineers was developed for another engineering program.  Mechanical engineering majors now take the new biology course in lieu of the second chemistry.  In freshmen mechanical engineering courses, the faculty reinforced material and computations the students were also seeing in Physics and Chemistry, such as projectile motion and stoichiometry.  Through these freshman engineering initiatives, students were able to see themselves as a mechanical engineering student and understand the types of knowledge and abilities essential to succeed.  The objectives of this paper are to explain these readiness initiatives, to assess the first year program results quantitatively and qualitatively through retention data and surveys, and to discuss the future potential of the program.
AU  - Robert J. Rabb P.E.
AU  - Monika Bubacz
AU  - Jason Howison
AU  - Kevin Skenes
CY  - New Orleans, Louisiana
DA  - 2016/06/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Effects of Readiness Initiatives on Mechanical Engineering Retention and Success
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/26917
DO  - 10.18260/p.26917
ER  -