The Impact of a Discipline‐Based Introduction to Engineering Course on Improving Retention

Abstract

An Introduction to Engineering course at the University of Florida was converted from a lecture-based offering to a laboratory format in a project sponsored by the Southeastern University and College Coalition for Engineering Education (SUCCEED) (NSF Cooperative Agreement No. EID-9109853). The revised course rotates student groups through laboratories in each of the undergraduate engineering disciplines. Majors and non-majors receive a grade for this one credit course which meets three hours per week. The laboratories employ active learning and a smaller class size to achieve two objectives: 1) to better inform students about the nature of engineering and its specific disciplines and 2) to improve the retention of these students in engineering. The achievement of the first objective has been shown in our earlier work.1, 2 This paper focuses on the achievement of the latter objective, which is shown by a longitudinal study to be dramatically improved. The magnitude (a 17% improvement in retention for the general population and greater for women and minorities) is surprising for a single course, but reasons are suggested which might explain such a large effect.

The Influence of Action Learning on Student Perception and Performance

“…The research by Bernold et al (2007) is in general agreement with this fi nding, stating that those with learning styles that deviate from traditional teaching methods tend to leave the more traditionally taught lecture environment. Providing fi rst-year engineering students with an active learning environment, in addition to faculty mentoring and discipline-specific advice, has been demonstrated to have a positive effect on the retention rates of female engineering students and other minority groups (Hoit & Ohland, 1998;Webster & Dee, 1998). Student preference for particular learning styles can give rise to unequal distribution of an individual's resources to the various stages of the learning cycle.…”

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“…Results have been positive and retention is also reported to have improved since its introduction. 5 North Carolina State University offers a freshman Introduction to Engineering Problem Solving Course for first year engineering students. This course introduces multidisciplinary problem solving, utilizing teams, cooperative learning, and problem solving.…”

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“…The research by Bernold, Spurlin, and Anson (2007) is in general agreement with this finding, stating that those with learning styles that deviate from traditional teaching methods tend to leave the more traditionally taught lecture environment. Providing first year engineering students with an active learning environment, in addition to faculty mentoring and discipline-specific advice, has been demonstrated to have a positive effect on the retention rates of female engineering students and other minority groups (Hoit & Ohland, 1998;Webster & Dee, 1998). Student preference for particular learning styles can give rise to unequal distribution of an individual's resources to the various stages of the learning cycle.…”