Increasing Retention By Incorporating Time Management And Study Skills Into A Freshman Engineering Course

Understanding Engineering Freshman Study Habits: The Transition From High School To College

“…College students are then expected to spend 500% or more time "studying" in college than they did in high school. 14 Other studies confirm that high school seniors do not study many hours outside of the classroom. 15 It is interesting to note the characteristics for "The pedantic 21 st century freshman engineering student" described by Mina and Gerdes 16 based on a study of freshman electrical engineering students at Iowa State University.…”

“…This program includes principles such as: sitting in front of the class, staying current in your understanding of the class, listened actively in class, reviewed notes before class, attended class, followed weekly schedule, updated daily schedule, used reading techniques, prepared schedule prior/early in week, paid attention to total hours spent in class and studying, used memory techniques, treated school like an 8-5 job, read book before material is covered in class, paid attention to hours of sleep, and used note taking techniques. 14 The principles of "Success4Students" are very similar to the steps in the "Guaranteed 4.0" learning system created by Donna O. Johnson. 24 The "Guaranteed 4.0 Plan" is the only learning system based on research that guarantees the student, even a college engineering freshman, that if they follow the entire plan, they will get straight A's.…”

“…13 Bradley and Bradley point out that the gap between student and faculty study expectations should not be surprising if we consider that in high school the students spend about 30 hours in class per week and about 5 hours of study outside of class. 14 In college students spend about 15 hours in class (plus labs) and are expected to study at least 25-30 hours. College students are then expected to spend 500% or more time "studying" in college than they did in high school.…”

“…A successful experiment was run at Baylor University which improved the GPA and retention of students taking the introductory freshmen engineering class. 14 All students (90) were required to attend a "Success4Students" seminar in place of the laboratory the first week of class. The Page 14.1294.8…”

A University's Approach To Teaching A Freshman Level Introductory Course In Industrial Engineering

“…For example, the previously mentioned integrated curricula, computer programming, and learning communities are strategies in and of themselves. Examples of other approaches involve design efforts, projects, and teams 17 ; time management and study skills 18 ; hands-on laboratory activities 19 ; robotics 20 ; collaboration with senior-level engineering students 21 ; service learning 22 ; and research 23 . Various combinations of these strategies may be found in freshman engineering programs as well.…”