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Session 1353

First Year Engineering Curriculum at Youngstown State University

Hazel M. Pierson, Daniel H. Suchora

Youngstown State University

Introduction

The first year engineering curriculum at Youngstown State University is a two-semester sequence of courses taken by qualified first year students of all engineering majors. This sequence was started about five years ago and has undergone yearly evaluation and fine-tuning as we try to get the best possible experience for our engineering freshman. This paper outlines the evolution to our current course make-up including the elements we feel are positive and beneficial to the program as well as those that did not facilitate the success of our program. It also specifies, in more detail, the current structure of the freshman engineering program at Youngstown State University.

Background Information

Prior to beginning the current freshman engineering program at Youngstown State University the engineering curriculum structure for the engineering freshman was typical of most engineering schools at the time, i.e. mostly courses in math, physics, chemistry, communications, and social studies. A survey of engineering course was required and it was a two quarter hour lecture course in a large auditorium with about 200 students. Each engineering program was responsible for about two weeks of the course and used the time to try to sell their particular program to the students. There were no prerequisites and no technical content, just a survey of the particular field of engineering with occasional speakers on other topics of interest. As the quarter went on student interest waned and to get the students to come to class and pay attention got to be a chore. Course assessment data and informal student interviews showed that this mode of introducing our freshmen to engineering had serious shortcomings.

The typical engineering freshman subjected to this exposure of courses was comparing the rigorous math and science courses being taken to this survey of engineering course and was not very favorably impressed with engineering. Many students who were originally interested in engineering lost interest and transferred to other fields; especially math, computer science, and chemistry here at YSU. Even more discouraging was that many of the students transferring were the top students who wanted what they viewed as a more challenging major. Approximately

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Pierson, H., & Suchora, D. (2004, June), First Year Engineering Curriculum At Youngstown State University Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--14099