Integrated Engineering Math Based Summer Bridge Program For Student Retention

Abstract

working on her PhD degree in Environmental Engineering with minors in Water Resources and Statistics. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography (minor in Hydrology) from the "Babes-Bolyai" University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania in 2001. She is currently working as student program coordinator for Engineering Math Advancement Program combining administrative and teaching duties. Her research interests include the magnitude of impervious surfaces in urban watersheds, the distribution of the contaminants produced by different land uses, and heavy metals in stormwater.

Enhancing Math and Stat Courses with Surveying Engineering Problems

“…This perception can follow students through their college education limiting their motivation and success in math and statistics. Mathematics and Statistics serve as foundation for all programs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM); therefore, lower success in mathematics can also affect their decisions to follow a STEM career [12], but also undermine their success in engineering courses [13], [14]. The issue of anxiety and lack of confidence in their abilities can be worse for female students who are often raised under the stereotypic view that females are not good at math [15].…”

“…Redmond [11] enhanced middle school math courses with engineering problems and found that this intervention made a significant impact on students' confidence in science and mathematics, awareness and interest in engineering, and an interest as a potential career. Gleason [14] developed a summer bridge program for incoming students with hands-on activities to help them relate math concepts with real world engineering problems, leading to increased success in calculus courses and retention in the STEM fields. Premadasa and Bhatia [1] show that students prefer problems that intrigue them or problems that they can relate to, increasing the chances of knowledge retention.…”