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Session 1520

Using a Web-Based Tour Registration System to Track Student Preference and Attendance

Matthew W. Ohland , Christopher W. Foreman , and Rachel E. Collins General Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634

Abstract

The Introduction to Engineering and Science course at Clemson includes attending tours of selected engineering and science departments. A system using sign-up sheets, although it had been improved incrementally over years of use, still had significant drawbacks for students, faculty, and the General Engineering Program staff. A web-based registration system introduced in 2001 and improved in 2002 not only proved to be an elegant solution to these problems, but also provided more flexibility than ever before. The paper includes snapshots of the inputs to the registration system at various points in time and a description of the implementation of the system, including the database structure.

Clemson’s Introduction to Engineering and Science Course

The Introduction to Engineering and Science course is the first course in Clemson’s General Engineering curriculum. Clemson’s General Engineering program has coordinated the common first-year engineering curriculum since 1985.1 A closer relationship with the sciences has developed as a result of a reorganization that created the College of Engineering and Science in 1995.2 Most recently, this relationship led to the addition of introductory science content and perspective to the Introduction to Engineering course to create an Introduction to Engineering and Science course. 3 The course in this new format is required of all students in the General Engineering program and is described in greater detail elsewhere by Ohland, Sill, and Crockett. 4

Tours as a Required Course Component

Each of the departments participating in the course offers “open house” tours during the semester. In 2001, students were required to visit at least three tours of engineering programs and two tours of science programs. In 2002, this requirement was changed to require attendance at five total tours, including at least one engineering and one science tour (this change had little effect on the overall distribution of attendance, but provided more flexibility to a minority of students.) Before the tours begin, other course elements help students to narrow their choices down to a few departments that most interest them. The tours then provide an opportunity to see a program in its own element—with its faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and its facilities. Tours Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Collins, R. E., & Foreman, C., & Ohland, M. (2003, June), Using A Web Based Tour Registration System To Track Student Preference And Attendance Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12619