Building a First-Year Engineering Program

1. Building a First-Year Engineering Program Presented by: John Demel, Richard Freuler, and John Merrill

2. 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

3. Questions ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. History of Ohio State First Year -Program • 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

8. Possible Models • Rose-Hulman – First Year • Quarter system • Three 12 credit courses combining and integrating math, physics, chemistry, engineering • Team of teachers • Just in time delivery

9. Possible Models • Drexel University • Quarter System • Combined topics for 1st Year Students (3 Qtrs) • Math and Physics • Chemistry and Biology • Humanities (English+) for Engineering • Engineering – Hands-On Labs, Maple, LabView, Design Projects • Sophomore (2 Quarters) • Systems, Energy, Materials

10. Semester System – Team Taught Freshman Year EPICS 151 (3) Sophomore Year EPICS 251(3) Weekly Schedule includes Project, CAD, Workshop Weekly Schedule includes Project, Computer, Workshop Design Methodology Problem Solving Communications Tools and Skills Same Project – One Client Design Methodology Problem Solving Communications Tools and Skills Many Projects w/ Clients

11. OSU Engineering Core Survey • Students needed more: • Teamwork • Project management • Communications • Problem Solving • CADD with Solid Modeling • Computer Tools

12. Year Activity (Students) 1992 Planning for FEH 1993 Pilot 1(30) 1994 Pilot 2/3(38/65) 1995 Pilot 4/5(37/64) 1996 Pilot 6(64) 1997 FEH Approved (71) FEH (105) FEH (173) FEH (218) 2001 FEH (252) 2002 FEH (247) Year Activity (Students) Planning for FE Pilot (105) Pilot (275) FE Approved (681) FE (~800) FE (~1,050) Timeline for New Programs

13. First-Year Engineering Program • Fundamentals of Engineering Honors Program • EG 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

14. First-Year Engineering Program • Fundamentals of Engineering Honors Program • Students 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

15. 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.

16. Two Person Team Design Project

17. Team Robot Design-Build Project

18. Robot Competition

19. Team Project Oral Presentation

20. 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

21. 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 quarters • Faculty come from all departments • Program and Course Assessment • Electronic Journals • Student Evaluation of Instruction

22. Hands On Lab Bridge Building & Competition

23. Hands On Lab Ice Cream Lab

24. Ten Week Team Design Project: A System to Sort Recyclable Materials Building the Conveyor

25. Ten Week Team Design Project:A System to Sort Recyclable Materials Testing the Design

26. Enrollment Since 1993

28. Enrollment 2001-2002 • Fundamentals of Engineering • 956 Students began the FE Course Sequence. • 809 (85%) Students completed the Sequence. • 704 (73%) Students returned to ENG in AU02. • Fundamentals of Engineering Honors • 248 Students began the FEH Course Sequence. • 213 (86%) Students completed the Sequence. • 210 (85%) Students returned to ENG in AU02.

29. 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.

30. Space Renovation Summer 2000 - 2001 • 72 Seat Computer Classroom • Three 36 Seat Computer Classrooms • Three Hands-On Labs - each 9 teams of 4 students

32. New First-Year Engineering Classrooms

33. New Laboratories

34. 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

35. Assessment

36. Assessment

37. 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 Online Tools used in the First-Year Program

38. Staffing • Program reports to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services • Faculty Coordinator for First-Year Program • Program Director & Honors Coordinator • Office Associate, Information Associate & Graduate Administrative Associate • Two Instructional Laboratory Supervisors • Rotating Faculty from all departments, 20+ GTAs, and 45 Peer Mentors from all departments

39. 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