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Session # 2549

Project-Based Freshmen Engineering Courses in Civil Engineering Technology

Vernon W. Lewis, Jr., Carol L. Considine Department of Engineering Technology

Old Dominion University Norfolk, Virginia 23529

Abstract

Old Dominion University (ODU) has developed two fundamental courses for freshmen engineering students. The first course introduces the fundamentals of the practice of engineering including innovation, creativity, design and manufacturing, commercialization, teaming skills, environmental impact, and ethics. The second course is an exploration of engineering and engineering technology disciplines with an emphasis on projects.

The purpose of these courses is to engage the students in the application of engineering early in their course of study with the hope that their interest will be reinforced and the likelihood of their being retained as students will increase. The courses are divided into three five-week modules that are distributed among departments within the college. The Engineering Technology department is responsible for two of the five-week modules in the second, projects-based course. One module is comprised of the civil, mechanical and electrical engineering technology curricula and the other module is comprised of strictly civil engineering technology.

This paper describes the freshmen engineering courses and outlines the projects that have been developed for Civil Engineering Technology at Old Dominion University. The Civil Engineering Technology program has seen an increase in students since the implementation of this freshmen project based courses, and the program has seen an increase in interest from freshmen students.

Introduction

Engineering 110 and 111 are two courses described in the catalog as a " . . . . series of projects to introduce a variety of engineering and technology disciplines; hands-on experiences with selected engineering problems and issues; team approach to managing engineering projects; discovering the unknown, formulating solutions, designing, manufacturing and testing; emphasis on learning modules, communication and presentation skills, creativity and innovation." These classes were introduced in the Batten College of Engineering and Technology at ODU in an effort to increase retention among engineering students. Beginning engineering students are often overcome or discouraged by the fundamental math and science courses that are required as

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

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Lewis, V., & Considine, C. (2004, June), Project Based Freshman Engineering Courses In Civil Engineering Technology Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--12825