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Main Menu Session 2186

Integration of Electronics, Math, & English and Its Impact on Retention

Dr. Ramesh Gaonkar, Dr. Charles J. Abaté Electrical & Computer Engineering Technology Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, NY 13215

Abstract: At present, three forces are converging: 1) industry must compete globally in a rapidly changing technology, 2) the nature of the workforce is changing; new employees will be older and ethnically diverse, and will include more women, 3) the basic mathematical and communication skills of incoming students are steadily declining. The project is concerned with preparing underprepared students for the technical workforce in an environment of globalization, rapidly changing technology, and the declining of basic skills (communication and mathematics) of incoming students.

Our traditional approach to resolve these issues of underprepared students has been to offer discipline-based remedial courses. However, this compartmentalized teaching has not succeeded in meeting the expectations of these students and reducing the attrition rate which is generally higher than 60%.

Our project attempts to build a bridge between the skills of incoming students and the skills they must have to meet the demands of the future workforce. This bridge is being built on a strong foundation of interdisciplinary concepts supported in a learning community of students and faculty members. An Integrated Interdisciplinary Program (IIP) that includes electronics, mathematics, writing/reading, and computing skills was designed and implemented in the environment of a learning community that emphasized collaborative learning and team work.

This program, which is known as the Foundations of Technology Program [NSF Award: DUE 99-50019 Advanced Technology Education], is truly an integrated curriculum since the students experience it as a single entity and not as a group of separate experiences. The integration of courses and the environment of a learning community has had a dramatic positive impact on retention, which has already increased three-fold. This paper focuses on the issues of the integration of courses; the environment of a learning community; and the design of an interdisciplinary program.

Introduction: In the last decade, three forces global competition, rapid technological change, and the composition of the American workforce began to converge. These forces are having a serious impact on our economy, and upon our ability to supply adequate numbers of well-trained technical employees. Unless educators and industry leaders work together, the current and often- lamented shortage of such employees will increase dramatically in the decades to come.

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

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Abaté, C., & Gaonkar, R. (2002, June), Integration Of Electronics, Math, And English And Its Impact On Retention Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10922