building a first-year engineering program

Building a First-Year Engineering Program

Presented by:John Demel, Richard Freuler, and John Merrill

Workshop Agenda

Introductions

Fill Out and Collect Questionnaire

Review Ohio State’s Program / Other Models

Questionnaire Summary

Group Discussion

Presentation about Building Support

Summary and Wrap-up

Questions?

??

?

?

?

? ?

?

?

Outline for this Presentation

OSU Demographics

Why we wanted to develop OSU Program

First-Year Engineering Program (FEP)Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)Fundamentals of Engineering Honors (FEH)

Results

The College of EngineeringThe Ohio State University

Ohio State – ~57,000 students

College of Engineering – ~6,000 students

Nine Departments – AAE, CE, ChE, CSE, ECE, FABE, IWSE, ME, MSE

4,840 Undergraduates

1,260 First-Year Engineering Students – Selective Admission to OSU & Enrollment in Engineering

~ 280 Faculty

History of Ohio State First-Year Program

(1874-1994) Department of Engineering Graphics includes two four credit courses Engineering Graphics & Programming for all students.

Late 1980’s - OSU Engineering & national concern about retention < 50% retained

Ohio State joined nine other schools for Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Considered Drexel and Rose-Hulman Models

1993-97 Developed Fundamentals of Engineering Honors Program

1992 & 1997 Engineering Core Surveys of OSU Graduates

1998 Retreat – 100 Faculty

History of Ohio State First Year -Program

Possible Models

Rose-Hulman – First YearQuarter system

Three 12 credit courses combining and integrating math, physics, chemistry, engineering

Team of teachers

Just in time delivery

Possible Models

Drexel UniversityQuarter SystemCombined topics for 1st Year Students (3 Qtrs)

Math and PhysicsChemistry and BiologyHumanities (English+) for EngineeringEngineering – Hands-On Labs, Maple, LabView, Design Projects

Sophomore (2 Quarters)Systems, Energy, Materials

Freshman YearEPICS 151 (3)

Sophomore YearEPICS 251(3)

Semester System – Team Taught

Weekly Schedule includesProject, CAD, Workshop

Weekly Schedule includes Project, Computer, Workshop Design Methodology

Problem Solving Communications Tools and Skills

Same Project – One Client

Design MethodologyProblem SolvingCommunicationsTools and Skills

Many Projects w/ Clients

OSU Engineering Core Survey

Students needed more:Teamwork

Project management

Communications

Problem Solving

CADD with Solid Modeling

Computer Tools

Timeline for New Programs Year Activity (Students)1992 Planning for FEH1993 Pilot 1(30)1994 Pilot 2/3(38/65)

1995 Pilot 4/5(37/64)1996 Pilot 6(64)1997 FEH Approved (71)1998 FEH (105)1999 FEH (173)2000 FEH (218)2001 FEH (252)2002 FEH (247)

Year Activity (Students)

1997 Planning for FE1998 Pilot (105)1999 Pilot (275)2000 FE Approved (681)2001 FE (~800)2002 FE (~1,050)

First-Year Engineering Program

Fundamentals of Engineering Honors ProgramEG H191 - Graphics, CADD, Hands-on Labs, Short design projects

EG H192 - Problem Solving, Algorithms, C/C++, Hands-on Labs, MATLAB

EG H193 - Team Design-Build Project - Autonomous Robots, Project Management & Documentation, Robot Controller programmed in C

First-Year Engineering Program

Fundamentals of Engineering Honors ProgramStudents learn with a team of Faculty, GTAs, and Undergraduate TAs

Engineering, Physics, and Math faculty meet weekly

Students stay together for three quarters

Faculty are selected for teaching ability

Faculty and GTAs teach the labs

Electronic Journals for weekly feedback

FEH Program Results

Students get into their major one quarter early.

Students participate in Co-op/Internship

Students become leaders in student organizations – Local High Schools / FIRST

FEH is a reason for top students to choose OSU over other schools.

Two Person Team Design Project

Team Robot Design-Build Project

Robot Competition

Team Project Oral Presentation

First-Year Engineering Program

Fundamentals of Engineering Engineering 181 (parallel to H191)

Graphics and CADD, Computer Tools (Excel, Word), Team Product Dissection Labs, Report Writing, Presentation

Engineering 183 (parallel to H193)Graphics and CADD, MATLAB, Team Design-Build Project, Project Management and Documentation

First-Year Engineering Program

Fundamentals of Engineering Students learn with a team of Faculty, GTAs, and Peer Mentors

PMs Funded by Honda

Students stay together for two quartersFaculty come from all departmentsProgram and Course AssessmentElectronic JournalsStudent Evaluation of Instruction

Hands On Lab

Bridge Building

&

Competition

Hands On Lab

Ice Cream Lab

Ten Week Team Design Project: A System to Sort Recyclable Materials

Building

the

Conveyor

Ten Week Team Design Project: A System to Sort Recyclable Materials

Testing

the

Design

Enrollment Since 1993

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004

Year

Nu

mb

er o

f S

tud

ents

FEH

FE

Current Retention FEH & FE Groups and Controls Combined By Academic Year

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

freshman sophomore junior senior 5th yearYear in School

Per

cen

t o

f O

rig

inal

Gro

up

En

rolle

d o

r G

rad

uat

ed in

or

fro

m C

OE

1998-99 Pilots

1998-99 Controls

1999-2000 Pilots

1999-2000 Controls

2000-2001 Groups

2001-2002 Groups

1988 Group

Enrollment 2001-2002

Fundamentals of Engineering956 Students began the FE Course Sequence.

809 (85%) Students completed the Sequence.

704 (73%) Students returned to ENG in AU02.

Fundamentals of Engineering Honors248 Students began the FEH Course Sequence.

213 (86%) Students completed the Sequence.

210 (85%) Students returned to ENG in AU02.

Enrollment 2001-2002

First-Year Engineering Program 1,204 Students began the First-Year Engineering Program.1,022 (85%) Students completed the Program Sequence. 914 (76%) Students returned to ENG in AU02.

Why 76%? Most Students who chose not to continue in Engineering decided to change majors.

Space Renovation Summer 2000 - 2001

72 Seat Computer Classroom

Three 36 Seat Computer Classrooms

Three Hands-On Labs - each 9 teams of 4 students

New First-Year Engineering Classrooms

New Laboratories

Measures of Success

Enrich students’ Engineering education experience and help them to connect to the College

Engage students in Engineering as a discipline and as a profession

Improve retention, or possibility for an early decision

Learn valuable new skills for future courses, Co-op and Internships, and on the job, meet ABET Criteria

AssessmentMeasurement FocusMeasurement Focus Measurement Tool or MethodMeasurement Tool or Method

1. Student Performance Course evaluations, oral presentations, lab reports, written reports, standard testing methods, course grades

2. Instructional Material Course evaluations, observations, team meetings

3. Basic Visualization

Skills

Purdue Visualization Test, Exams, Homework

4. Student Attitudes Pittsburgh Freshman Attitude Survey, Journal Entries, narrative responses on final course evaluation

AssessmentMeasurement FocusMeasurement Focus Measurement Tool or MethodMeasurement Tool or Method

5. Faculty Attitudes Team meetings and written evaluations

6. ABET Criteria Course evaluations and electronic journals

7. Communication Feedback on lab activities, oral presentations

8. Teamwork Skills Team evaluations, team building workshops, course evaluations

9. Retention Monitoring enrollment, COE Annual reports

Online Tools used in the First-Year Program

Journals

Final Course Evaluation

TA Evaluations

Lab Instructor Evaluations

Pittsburgh Freshman Attitudes Survey (pre & post)

Peer/Team Evaluations (midterm & final)

Purdue Visualization Test (pre & post)

Felder Learning Styles Inventory

StaffingProgram reports to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Student ServicesFaculty Coordinator for First-Year ProgramProgram Director & Honors CoordinatorOffice Associate, Information Associate & Graduate Administrative Associate Two Instructional Laboratory SupervisorsRotating Faculty from all departments, 20+ GTAs, and 45 Peer Mentors from all departments

Lessons Learned

There is much to be learned from others’ mistakes and successes

A great program at one school probably won’t work at another school without changes

You have to establish ownership by the College