A Motivational First-year Electronics Lab Course

An elective laboratory course has been developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to motivate freshmen for further study of engineering in general and to spur interest in electrical and computer engineering in particular. The course philosophy is that hands-on laboratory and design experiences build student confidence, stimulate curiosity, and demonstrate the relevance of engineering work — thereby increasing motivation and retention. This paper describes the structure of the new course and reports on the evaluation results, which confirm that carefully structured hands-on experience is an effective way of motivating freshmen. Evaluation results also indicate that the course has increased student creativity and confidence. Since the lab course is just one credit, it appears possible to address the motivation problem without overloading already crowded first-year engineering programs.     

The Theme Course: Connecting the Plant Trip to the Text Book

A plant trip provides subjects for team projects and lecture examples in a sophomore chemical engineering course, thus becoming a unifying “theme” for the course. The “theme” structure is intended to improve student mastery of course material by helping students relate different course topics to one another via real equipment and processes. Here, performance in a subsequent junior chemical engineering course by students from the “theme course” is compared with performance by students who took the sophomore course in a traditional lecture‐homework‐exam format. Theme course graduates claim better retention of concepts from the sophomore course, though their scores on exam questions testing their knowledge, comprehension, and application of these concepts did not differ significantly from that of students from the traditional course. Theme course graduates did earn higher grades in the junior course, due to better performance on exam questions requiring higher level skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Students were enthusiastic about the course structure, and expressed excitement about learning from “real life.” Thus the “theme” structure results in early student success in the skills necessary for engineering design, and generates student enthusiasm for engineering.     

Experiences with Formative Assessment in Engineering Classrooms

Assessment in many engineering courses is mostly summative in nature. We have introduced an electronic Classroom Communication System (CCS) into undergraduate engineering courses to provide students with formative assessment on a regular basis. Experiences with the system are presented, including both student and instructor evaluations. Students like it because it is anonymous and lets them know in a timely manner when they have difficulty understanding new concepts. The system also helps inform the instructor about student comprehension of various concepts, well in advance of an examination, resulting in better retention of fundamental concepts. The system can help an instructor adjust the pace of the course to match the aptitude of the students. Therefore, instructors might reduce the variance in students' conceptual understanding of fundamental concepts early in the course, allowing for more uniform coverage of advanced topics later in the course.     

Characteristics of Freshman Engineering Students: Models for Determining Student Attrition in Engineering

Nationwide, less than half the freshman who start in engineering graduate in engineering, and at least half of this attrition occurs during the freshman year. Clearly, the freshman year is critical for both academic success and retention of engineering students. Such success depends not only on the knowledge and skills learned during this first year, but also on the attitudes individual students bring with them to college. Hence, if these attitudes can be measured before beginning college, we can develop more targeted programs for reducing attrition and improving academic success. Further, by measuring changes in student attitude over the course of the freshman year, we can develop better methods to evaluate engineering education programs. To learn more about these attitudes and how they impact upon retention, we undertook a three-year research effort. First we identified attitudes incoming students have about the field of engineering, their perceptions about the upcoming educational experience, and their confidence in their ability to succeed in engineering. These attitudes were then related to performance and retention in the freshman engineering program. To accomplish this, a closedform survey was developed, tested and administered to the 1993–94 and 1994–95 freshman engineering classes. This study demonstrated that student attitudes can provide an effective means for evaluating aspects of our freshman engineering program, particularly those relating to issues of attrition. Specifically, students who left the freshman engineering program in “good academic standing” had significantly different attitudes about engineering and themselves than those possessed by other comparison groups: students who stayed in engineering and students who left engineering in “poor academic standing.” We developed regression models to predict attrition and performance in our freshman engineering program using quantified measures of student attitudes. Implementation of the models has allowed freshman advisors to better inform students of opportunities that engineering offers, to devise better programs of study that take advantage of students' varied interests, and to set retention goals that are more realistic.     

Effects of Faculty Interaction and Feedback on Gains in Student Skills*

Previous research has identified several variables that affect students' course satisfaction and gains in learning outcomes. The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with insights about the relationships between faculty‐student interaction and students' perceptions of selected skills and attitudes. This study specifically examined the relationships between engineering faculty teaching practices, classroom climate, and students' perceptions of their gains in communication skills, problem‐solving skills, occupational awareness, and engineering competence in a curriculum emphasizing engineering design activities. Data were gathered from more than 1,500 students taking the first‐year design course offered at 19 campuses of the Penn State system over a period of two years. The results suggest that faculty interacting with and providing constructive feedback to students were significantly and positively related to students' self‐reported gains in several design and professional skills. These relationships remained after controlling for student demographic characteristics and campus location. Recommendations regarding specific teaching practices are provided.     

From the Students' Point of View: Experiences in a Freshman Engineering Design Course

We evaluated the pilot semester of a freshman introduction to engineering course in order to provide an understanding of the students' experience in the course and identify aspects of this experience that could lead to improved student retention in engineering. The course concentrates on having students work in teams to identify customer needs, find solutions, and design and build a final product. We used qualitative research methods for data collection and analysis that included interviewing students using a set of open-ended questions, thus allowing them to introduce issues and describe their experiences. Our analysis indicated that students experienced engineering in a supportive, team-oriented environment that provided a context for making informed career decisions. The students' experiences indicate that courses such as this one can help students face the challenges they encounter in beginning their engineering education.     

Identifying and Removing a Calculus Prerequisite as a Bottleneck in Clemson's General Engineering Curriculum

A review of prerequisites often reveals that reasons for requiring a prerequisite may no longer prevail due to curriculum or course changes. Based on a study of a curriculum bottleneck unrelated to required mastery, the prerequisite structure in Clemson University's General Engineering curriculum (the common first‐year curriculum for all engineering students) was changed so that Calculus I could be taken in the second semester. Student record analysis shows both the magnitude of the bottleneck prior to the policy change and the effect on student enrollment practices after the policy change. Longitudinal studies show a statistically significant improvement in retention in engineering adding to the body of evidence that indicates that it is important to retention that students start college mathematics at a level for which they are prepared.     

The Impact of a Discipline-Based Introduction to Engineering Course on Improving Retention

An Introduction to Engineering course at the University of Florida was converted from a lecture-based offering to a laboratory format in a project sponsored by the Southeastern University and College Coalition for Engineering Education (SUCCEED) (NSF Cooperative Agreement No. EID-9109853). The revised course rotates student groups through laboratories in each of the undergraduate engineering disciplines. Majors and non-majors receive a grade for this one credit course which meets three hours per week. The laboratories employ active learning and a smaller class size to achieve two objectives: 1) to better inform students about the nature of engineering and its specific disciplines and 2) to improve the retention of these students in engineering. The achievement of the first objective has been shown in our earlier work.^1,2 This paper focuses on the achievement of the latter objective, which is shown by a longitudinal study to be dramatically improved. The magnitude (a 17% improvement in retention for the general population and greater for women and minorities) is surprising for a single course, but reasons are suggested which might explain such a large effect.     

Making the Grade with Students: The Case for Accessibility

Student‐based teaching evaluations are one critical component of instructor and course evaluation in most universities. The purpose of this study is to critically examine several factors that drive student‐based ratings of instructors and courses in an undergraduate mechanical engineering program. The findings are based on a statistical study of student ratings in 181 mechanical engineering courses during a three and one‐half year period, two mid‐semester classroom interviews, and anecdotal evidence garnered from personal experience. A key rating that appears strongly linked with the overall instructor and course rating is the “accessibility of the instructor.” The instructor accessibility factor outweighs others often cited by conventional wisdom, such as perceived course workload or expected grade in the course. Rationale for the strong correlation between instructor rating and perceived instructor accessibility is discussed. Several suggestions for how to improve instructor accessibility and resulting student‐based teaching evaluations are provided.     

Engineering Online: Assessing Innovative Education

This paper presents research on student performance outcomes, satisfaction, and retention rates in a fiber optics course at Arizona State University. Although the course typically has been taught by conventional methods for over 20 years, the instructor offered alternative delivery methods, such as the Web, during the Fall 2000 semester. This course was also unique in that it was comprised of diverse groups such as undergraduates and graduates and on‐ and off‐campus students. Although online students were significantly more satisfied with the course, performance outcomes and retention rates were favorable overall. It is likely that course options and convenience aided in student outcomes and course retention.     

Case Learning Methodology in Operations Engineering

Teaching operations engineering to traditional and non‐traditional engineering students using case learning methods presents both instructional challenges and provides learning rewards when performed properly. Unfortunately, few engineering faculty have had exposure to this learning approach. However, the skills are learnable and the results satisfying to instructor and student alike. The purpose of this paper is to explore case learning methods and illustrate their appropriateness for a course in operations engineering.     

Student Perceptions of Engineering Entrepreneurship: An Exploratory Study

This study examines students' overall perceptions of the engineering profession in a first‐year course in engineering, and the effect of a pedagogical approach aimed at exposing students to engineering entrepreneurship and their perceptions of engineering entrepreneurship. The approach featured a market game that engaged a pilot group of 20 students in forming IT companies and competing for the best design of a travel agent system. The rest of the students in the course completed the traditional class project, which involved designing and building a land sailer. A pre‐post Likert‐type survey designed to measure students' perceptions of the engineering profession was administered to all students enrolled in this course. In addition, a short answer questionnaire seeking students' pedagogical perceptions of the market game and the land sailer project was administered at the end of the course. Results indicated that students' overall perceptions of the engineering profession significantly improved by the end of the course. More importantly, the results indicated that students who participated in the market game had significantly better perceptions of engineering entrepreneurship, specifically professional skills, than students who participated in the land sailer project. These findings are of considerable interest to engineering schools that want to increase student retention and are looking for novel approaches to assist freshmen in choosing their majors.     

Making Engineering Education Fun

Maintaining student interest is more than an academic exercise. Institutions or departments that fail to challenge and actively involve their students in the learning process risk losing them to competing programs where the curricula are more dynamic and relevant. Within the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Oregon State University, we continually seek innovative ways to promote student retention while maintaining academic excellence. One recent effort was to restructure a first‐year nuclear engineering/health physics course. Using nuclear techniques, students were required to solve a fictitious murder. In the process they learned about teamwork, nuclear forensics methods, radiation protection, and basic radiation interactions. The class members were brought into the mystery playing the part of “graduate students” who helped their police‐detective uncle solve the case. To assist in their investigation the students subpoenaed expert “witnesses” to educate them on nuclear principles. The students, through homework, explained their actions, methods, and reasoning to a nontechnical participant (their “uncle“). By building on knowledge gained through interviews and homework, the students were able to solve the mystery. This mode of teaching requires extensive hands‐on faculty participation. However, the potential long‐term benefit is increased comprehension of course content as well as greater student interest and retention.     

Toying with a Capstone Design Course

Oakland University has pioneered a unique approach to capstone design projects. Multidisciplinary student groups invent a new electrical, mechanical, or electromechanical game or toy, design it, and build a working prototype. The prototype is then delivered to an internationally‐known toy and game agency. The best of the prototypes are then presented by the agency to major national and international game and toy companies. If the toy or game is selected for production, the possibility exists for significant financial benefit both for the school and the students. Real world considerations such as creativity, project feasibility, and costs (particularly in mass quantity), all factor into the ultimate student goal, which is to have their project selected by the agents. The burden of devising the projects is largely removed from the professor and copying from earlier projects is virtually impossible. Design of a good game or toy is often much more difficult than it appears—projects invariably knit together the many engineering skills a student has acquired through the course of obtaining a bachelor's degree as well as from the rest of their life experiences. Ultimately, the engineering school also benefits from these projects through the possibility of substantial publicity, either with local display of student projects, or through press coverage surrounding a successful project picked up by a major international toy company.     

Student Performance and Acceptance of Instructional Technology: Comparing Technology‐Enhanced and Traditional Instruction for a Course in Statics

The College of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati has evaluated the use of instructional technologies to improve the learning process for students in fundamental engineering science courses. The goal of this effort was to both retain more students in engineering programs and improve student performance through appropriate use of technology. Four modes of instruction were used to teach an engineering fundamentals course in statics. A traditional instructor‐led course, a Web‐assisted course, a streaming media course, and an interactive video course were all presented using a common syllabus, homework, tests, and grading regimen. Evaluations of final course grades indicate that use of instructional technology improved student performance when compared with traditional teaching methods. Student satisfaction with technology varied considerably with the Web‐assisted format having the highest student approval rating of the technologies. The results indicate that time on task and interest in content can be improved through the appropriate use of technology.     

An Experiment in Integration: Calculus and Physics for Freshmen

This paper describes an experimental course integrating calculus and physics for freshmen, conducted with partial support of an NSF Curriculum Development Grant. A primary goal of the Project was to provide a better foundation for higher-level engineering/science courses by enabling students to transfer and apply fundamental knowledge; applications and mathematical modeling were emphasized. A weekly Laboratory/Workshop, which proved to be highly motivational for students, was featured. Having team- taught the course three years in succession, the authors have much to share regarding the actual implementation of the course and its special challenges, student preparation and receptivity, and choice of materials. Assessment data indicate that the performance and retention of participating students in the next Physics course were significantly improved, but long-term effects are difficult to track and measure.     

Is Modeling of Freshman Engineering Success Different from Modeling of Non‐Engineering Success?

The engineering community has recognized the need for a higher retention rate in freshman engineering. If we are to increase the freshman retention rate, we need to better understand the characteristics of academic success for engineering students. One approach is to compare academic performance of engineering students to that of non‐engineering students. This study explores the differences in predicting academic success (defined as the first year GPA) for freshman engineering students compared to three non‐engineering student sectors (Pre‐Med, STEM, and non‐STEM disciplines) within a university. Academic success is predicted with pre‐college variables from the UCLA/CIRP survey using factor analysis and regression analysis. Except for the factor related to the high school GPA and rank, the predictors for each student sector were discipline specific. Predictors unique to the engineering sector included the factors related to quantitative skills (ACT Math and Science test scores and placement test scores) and confidence in quantitative skills.     

Understanding Our Students: A Longitudinal‐Study of Success and Failure in Engineering With Implications for Increased Retention

In spite of considerable research about the poor retention rate of undergraduate engineering students, we still have an inadequate understanding of the factors that affect students' decisions to remain in engineering programs and their ability to perform well enough to be retained. Although continued study is needed of external factors such as curricular requirements, admissions criteria, and test scores, we also need to know much more about the relationships between curricular experiences and students' learning styles, habits, and attitudes. The work presented in this paper was designed to enhance educators' understanding of the factors that underlie the concern about student retention in engineering. By observing 1,000 engineering students during their first three years in college, the research team generated a large database on the students' academic and non‐academic characteristics as well as their successes and failures. The traits discovered not only support many findings from previous studies but also reveal some new relationships that could prove essential to designing an educational environment that will prepare engineers for success in the future.     

Development of a Classification System for Engineering Student Characteristics Affecting College Enrollment and Retention

Background In engineering education, a considerable amount of research effort has been dedicated to study the impacts of student characteristics on their college enrollment, major selection, and college retention. However, there is no standardized categorical classification system of engineering student characteristics in the current literature. Different researchers tend to focus on specific characteristics within the scope of their research interests. This study provides a comprehensive review and analysis of the existing research on the measurement of the characteristics of engineering students. Purpose The study addressed the three questions: (1) what engineering student characteristics have been measured; (2) how do engineering student characteristics impact their educational outcomes; and (3) what measurement and analysis methods have been applied in current studies? A standardized classification system for engineering student characteristics involving external, cognitive, affective, and demographic categories is also proposed. Scope /Method The study focused on engineering education. Representative research regarding common characteristics of students from majors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics were also included. The review covers major academic journals, research books, conference proceedings, and government reports in the areas of science and engineering education for the past two decades. Conclusions The review analysis indicated that students with certain characteristics are more likely to choose engineering as a profession and that those characteristics are either correlated or causally related with one another. However, many research conclusions based on basic statistical analyses fail to model the interaction effects. More advanced measurement techniques are needed that can model the characteristics interactively and concurrently in a complete framework.