US EPA

7235809 

Journal Article 

First Year Engineering Courses Effect on Retention and Student Engagement 

Bucks, GW; Ossman, KA; Kastner, J; Boerio, FJ; Torsella, JA; , 

2014 

AMER SOC ENGINEERING EDUCATION 

WASHINGTON 

WOS:000383779800044 

Due to a drop in the percentage of students enrolling and persisting in engineering programs, there is currently a lack of qualified engineering graduates, which jeopardizes both the health of the U.S. economy and the security of the nation. This issue has led to the development and implementation of a variety of first-year engineering experiences designed to recruit more students to engineering and to retain them once they have chosen to pursue a degree in engineering. At the University of Cincinnati, three common courses were introduced during the 2012-2013 school year to provide first-year students with hands-on experiences in engineering and a link between engineering and the required mathematics and science courses.This paper includes a description of the first-year courses and provides detailed information about the hands-on experiments and the computing assignments that link engineering applications to topics in math and science courses. Lessons learned during the first offerings of the courses and changes made to the courses in response to student and faculty feedback are also discussed. Retention data of the engineering students from freshmen to sophomore year is provided and shows a significant increase since the common courses were introduced. 

ASEE Annual Conference 

Indianapolis, IN