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Session 1432

Summer Camp and Course Workshops for Sophomore Level Electrical and Computer Engineers

Authors: David P. Shattuck, Frank J. Claydon, Stuart A. Long, Betty J. Barr, Jennifer L. Ruchhoeft, and Lorena I. Basilio Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-4005

Abstract

In response to a program supported by Texas engineering companies and the Texas state government, we have begun a project to attempt to increase the number of graduates in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. We have chosen to work on two sophomore-level courses where the success rate in the past has been very low, specifically Circuit Analysis and Electromagnetics. The project has two parts. One part is a weeklong summer camp, called a Redshirt Camp. The students study topics that we believe will help them do better in these two courses in the coming semesters. Then, during the semester the students meet once a week in collaborative-learning sessions, called Workshops, where they work difficult problems in teams. Under the guidance of facilitators, they teach each other how to approach these problems effectively, and therefore learn more thoroughly. At the end of the first semester of this project, 73% of the students in Circuit Analysis who completed the workshop earned a high enough grade to move to the next course in the curriculum. This compares to 56% of the students taking the same exams who did not participate in or complete the workshop. For the students in Electromagnetics, 91% of the students who completed the workshop earned a high enough grade to move to the next course in the curriculum, compared to 51% of the students taking the same exams who did not participate in or complete the workshop. To compare the two groups, it was noted that the average GPA for students in the Circuits project group was only 3.2% higher than the average GPA for those who were not in the project. Similarly, the Electromagnetics students in the project had a 6.5% higher GPA than the other students in that class. With these early results, we are cautiously optimistic that we are making a difference for our students. Full results for two semesters of the project will be ready by the time of the presentation.

“Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Basilio, L., & Claydon, F., & Barr, B., & Shattuck, D., & Long, S., & Ruchhoeft, J. (2003, June), Summer Camp And Course Workshops For Ece Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12563