Retention 101: Where robots go...students follow

Journal of Engineering Education, Jan 2003 by Pomalaza-Raez, Carlos, Groff, Brenda Henry

An Educational Brief

ABSTRACT

At Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne we have developed ETCS 101-Introduction to Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science, a freshman success course for students in the School of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science. The main objective of this course is to increase retention. The course aims to provide students with sufficient computer and personal development skills and to help them develop the right mental attitude conducive for academic success. Features of the course include projects of software and hardware nature, extensive use of the Internet and Web software tools, and a team-teaching format. As the main project of this course, small teams of students design, build, program, and test an autonomous mobile robot using LEGO parts, sensors, and the Robotic Command eXplorer (RCX) controller. This is a multidisciplinary, project-driven learning process that encourages students to develop problem solving and teamwork skills and fosters their creativity and logic.

I. INTRODUCTION

Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) is located in the second largest city in Indiana and it is the sixth largest public university in the state. Total enrollment is approximately 10,000 students. IPFW is a commuter university (there is no oncampus student housing) and more than half of the students attend classes on a part-time basis. The average student age is twentyseven years. The School of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science (ETCS) enrolls approximately 1,400 students and is comprised of five departments: Civil & Architectural Engineering Technology, Computer Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering Technology, Engineering, and Manufacturing Technology. Certificate, associate, bachelor, and master degree programs are offered and awarded by Purdue University.

ETCS students are a mix of traditional and non-traditional age students. Many of the students who apply for the first time to any of the departments of the School of ETCS are adults who have been out of school for several years. These non-traditional students usually hold part-time or full-time jobs in local industry and are highly motivated in earning a degree in a technical field, but their knowledge about the disciplines of engineering, technology, and computer science is limited. This lack of knowledge about engineering is also common in the traditional freshmen engineering students [13]. Other challenges present in this student body are:

a lack of the proper mindset and attitude for academic success;

very limited computer skills;

few opportunities to interact with each other;

no experience in bringing an engineering design concept to a working prototype; and

poor written and oral communication skills.

To address these we have developed and implemented a hightech freshman success course, ETCS 101-Introduction to Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science, that helps students acquire sufficient computer and personal development skills for a successful college career. Computer skills and the right attitude towards obtaining a technical degree have been strongly correlated with retention [4,6]. The course also provides students with an introduction to several technical disciplines and career information. Individual and team course projects are of software and hardware nature. The course makes extensive use of Web software tools, and it has a team-teaching format. Similar motivating features have been used in freshman engineering courses developed elsewhere [12,14].

Numerous studies [2,10] have found a positive correlation between the return rates of sophomores and participation in a freshmen success courses. This is particularly true in a technical degree program [11]. Cheshier [5] reports that less than 50 percent of students entering engineering and engineering technology programs earn their degree in that field.

Our retention rates [9] are lower than those described in these studies. Table 1 shows that after a two-year period, forty percent of ETCS students have left IPFW without obtaining any degree. We believe that this trend is due to the nature of our student population and our university. The main goal ETCS 101 is to decrease this trend and increase retention rates.

II. THE STUDENTS

To gain an insight in the background of the students and to validate the premises under which the course is being developed, a survey is conducted at the start of the semester. Students are asked about their:

choice of major,

mathematical background,

computer expertise,

number of hours per week dedicated to work,

number of hours per week dedicated to study,

number of credits being taken,

oral and written communication skills,

ability to work with others, and

knowledge of professional ethical standards and world affairs.

The results of this survey as well as the course evaluations conducted at the end of the semester are used to assess and update the course content. Since a major claim of the course is its high-tech nature, it is important to continuously revise the nature and content of the projects to address the perceived shortcomings in the backgrounds of the students. Figure 1 shows the computer skills of the students surveyed at the start of the fall 2001 semester (111 students filled the on-line survey).