Designing A Freshman Program To Support Student Success

The WVU College of Engineering and Mineral Resources has implemented several programmatic changes to the freshman year experience in an effort to support students in their attempt to attain the College’s high academic standards and to improve retention of students from the freshman to the sophomore year. This paper describes several of these program modifications, presents an analysis of the data indicating the results of these changes, and makes recommendations for further study. The changes made to the freshman program include the creation of two engineering tracks, a traditional track for those prepared to enter Calculus 1 in the first semester of their freshman year and a second engineering track designed for those students not prepared to enter Calculus 1 in their first semester, the development of a freshman orientation class, the requirement of participation in weekly study lab sessions, the implementation of a five-day Calculus 1 course comprised of three lectures and two recitations, and the enforcement of the requirement to attain a C or better in calculus before entering a specific engineering discipline major. The orientation class teaches freshman academic success skills and includes weekly communication with students’ parents. Data trends in the last two years indicate that these changes had a significant effect on the retention of engineering students from their freshman year to the sophomore year and improved the freshman class GPA. Analysis of academic performance data has also indicated additional areas for continued improvement in placing and advising students, as well as in supporting and tracking student success. Introduction Attracting and retaining qualified students is essential to surviving and thriving in current enrollment-driven environments. The WVU College of Engineering and Mineral Resources has implemented several programmatic changes to the freshman year experience in an effort to support students in their attempt to attain the College’s high academic standards and to improve retention of students from the freshman to the sophomore year. Benchmarking/Baseline Data In the academic year 2000/01, of the 447 incoming freshmen, the median SAT-Math score was 590 and the median ACT-Math score was 26. At that time, West Virginia had not yet implemented its PROMISE Scholarship program; there was no freshman orientation course and no College-sponsored academic support. Freshman retention, defined as the percentage of freshmen who transferred to a discipline major or to sophomore status at the end of the second semester, was 66.7%; the average GPA of freshmen engineering students was 2.48; and 48 P ge 10417.1 Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education freshmen (10.7%) ended the year with a GPA of 3.5 or better. Since performance in fundamental math and science courses is also a measure of success in an engineering program, student data was compiled and evaluated in three fundamental math and science courses required of all engineering majors: Calculus 1 (MATH 155), Fundamentals of Chemistry (CHEM 115), and General Physics (PHYS 111). In academic year 2000/01, the engineering GPA in Fundamentals of Chemistry was 1.82, with 55.1% of the students earning a grade of C or better; the engineering GPA in Calculus 1 was 1.52, with 38.3% earning a grade of C or better; and the engineering GPA in General Physics was 2.28, with 63.6% earning a grade of C or better. Programmatic Support Changes To improve the academic success of freshman engineering students, several student support structures were implemented over a three year period. Changes made to the freshman program include the: • Development of Engineering 199, a 1-credit hour engineering-specific orientation course for all engineering freshmen, which provides early exposure to the value of an engineering degree, tracks student progress throughout the first semester, and involves parents through weekly emailed newsletters. • Requirement of participation in weekly study lab sessions. • Implementation of two engineering tracks: Engineering, a traditional track for those students ready to take Calculus 1 (or a higher math course) in the first semester of their freshman year, and General Engineering, a track designed for those students needing to take algebra and trigonometry, or pre-calculus mathematics, during the first semester. • Enforcement of the requirement to attain a C or better in Calculus 1 before taking General Physics and implementation of the requirement to attain a C or better in Calculus 1 before entering a specific engineering discipline major. • Revision of the freshman engineering curriculum to focus on problem-solving and an increased management of the multiple sections of the first year engineering courses to ensure a more uniform experience for all students. • Implementation of a five-day Calculus 1 course comprised of three lectures and two recitations per week. • Continual tracking of student academic success and provision of academic advising and mentoring throughout the freshmen year. Beginning in the 2002/03 academic year, WVU College of Engineering and Mineral Resources initiated a mandatory 1-credit hour engineering orientation course, ENGR 199, which met the university requirement for an orientation course. All incoming engineering students took the engineering orientation course instead of the general university orientation course. In this course, students were taught college and career “success skills” such as study skills, prioritization, and time management; were given early exposure to the value of an engineering degree; were introduced to all the engineering discipline majors; were taught how to write a resume and participated in a career fair and exposed to internship opportunities; and were required to give periodic progress reports on their grades in all their other courses. In addition, weekly assignments intended to provoke consideration of their future career options were given and attendance expectations were clearly defined. The instructor of the orientation course took an active role in supporting student achievement and met with each student reporting poor grades P ge 10417.2 Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education to help the student refocus his or her priorities on academic success and create a recovery plan to improve his or her grades. During the 2003/04 academic year, the University and the College increased focus on retention and several additional changes were made with the intent to improve freshmen retention. The two most important changes were modifications to the engineering orientation course and the development of two engineering tracks for entering students. The orientation class was modified to include a study lab requirement and to request all students to sign privacy releases to enable academic advisors and faculty to speak to a parent who may call with questions regarding his or her student’s academic progress or options. Proctored 2-hour study labs were offered five days each week, Sunday through Thursday, from 7:00 – 9:00 PM, and provided a place in which students could work on their homework in math, chemistry, physics or computer science and gain the assistance of upper-class engineering students, as needed. Each ENGR 199 student was required to attend at least one of these study labs each week. Attendance was taken each evening and student participation was tracked and used to determine a portion of the E199 orientation course final grade. Beginning in Fall 2003, the WVU College of Engineering and Mineral Resources admitted students to study under two distinct programs, Engineering, a traditional track for those students ready to take Calculus 1(or a higher math course) in the first semester of their freshman year, and General Engineering, a 3-semester program designed for those students needing to take algebra and trigonometry, or pre-calculus mathematics, during the first semester. The objective of the two path approach is to match each student with a first year curriculum that prepares him or her for study in any of the discipline majors and also is tailored to maximize the learning success of that student. To qualify for the Engineering program, students must have an ACT-Math score of at least 26 with a composite score of at least 19 or an SAT-Math score of at least 600 with a composite SAT score of at least 910. To qualify for the General Engineering program, students must have an ACT-Math score of at least 20, with a composite ACT score of at least 19, or have an SAT-Math score of at least 480, with a total SAT score of at least 910. Students who did not meet the minimal requirements were enrolled in general studies, but were allowed to take the engineering orientation course. Other changes made to the freshman engineering program that year include: the revision of the two freshman engineering courses to increase the problem-solving focus and to better coordinate the various sections to ensure a more common experience for all first year students; the recruitment of faculty from engineering departments who were enthused and excited about teaching freshmen engineering students; and the addition of the requirement that students must attain a grade of C or better in Calculus 1 before being permitted to declare a discipline specific major. During fall 2004, the engineering study labs became course specific: Nightly study labs were offered for Calculus 1 & 2; algebra, trigonometry, and pre-calculus math; chemistry; physics; and computer science. Other modifications to the orientation course included weekly email newsletters to the parents and mentoring (academic coaching) for those students most at risk. The 2004 – 2005 academic year marks the firs