Building A Foundation For Pre Calculus Engineering Freshman Through An Integrated Learning Community

Beginning in February 2003 the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation funded a five-year project designed to address retention of freshmen engineering students at New Mexico State University. The freshman engineering integrated learning community (ILC) is a cluster of firstsemester students who are beginning their engineering studies below the Calculus I level. The students are enrolled in algebra, freshman composition, a freshman engineering seminar, a general engineering class, general chemistry, engineering ethics, and introduction to engineering design. The cluster sequence is designed to integrate the coursework to ensure that during the first year students develop a strong foundation in algebra, writing and problem solving skills, and engineering analysis and design. The instructors of the cluster courses meet regularly to share insights about the progress of the students and to coordinate activities in ways designed to improve student learning in all the courses. An assessment team has also developed a writingbased testing instrument to assess the attitudes of the students toward the cluster intervention program. This paper reviews the experience with the cluster and the impact of this effort on retention and progression of the students through the first year of the engineering curriculum. Pre-Calculus Barrier to Success in Freshmen Engineering For many science and engineering majors, Intermediate Algebra has been identified as a type of early gatekeeper and an internal barrier to academic progression. At New Mexico State University, departmental records show that 40% of students who self-identify as computer science or engineering majors have to take Intermediate Algebra. Furthermore, grade records for this course show that only 30% of the students who take the course pass with an A or B letter grade. Another 14% earn a C or D, and over half—54%—withdraw, fail, or must repeat the course. The remaining 2% take an “Incomplete.” 1 This difficulty with pre-calculus math represents a serious barrier to student success in the engineering majors. Ultimately, only 20% of freshmen who initiate their engineering education at the Intermediate Algebra level complete a degree in engineering. This may be due, in part, to the students’ lack of early exposure to engineering and, therefore, lack of socialization within their declared engineering programs. In order to take engineering courses, students need to be at least co-registered in Calculus I. However, students who place into Intermediate Algebra need to successfully complete the course, and then take College Trigonometry and College Algebra before they can register for Calculus I and entry-level engineering courses. This sequence can take as long as four semesters to complete. Complicating the lack of preparation for college-level mathematics demonstrated by many P ge 10279.1 “Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education” incoming Engineering freshmen, one of the factors impacting students ability to successfully complete Intermediate Algebra is that the traditional instruction of mathematical concepts does not provide students sufficient practice in applying those concepts to relevant discipline-specific problems. This lack of connection between mathematics and engineering instruction is further exacerbated for the significant number of students who are unable to enroll in engineering courses for as long as four semesters, further delaying the opportunity for engineering-specific, integrated learning experiences to take place. Integrated Learning Communities Support for integrated discipline-specific learning experiences is provided in the Boyer Commission report on educating undergraduates in the research university, “Reinventing Undergraduate Education, A Blueprint for America’s Research Universities,” which argues that all students, beginning with the freshman year, should be exposed to inquiry-based learning and that research universities, because of their commitment to creating new knowledge, are uniquely positioned to provide such experiences. Among their recommendations the commission suggests that, “The first year of a university experience needs to provide new stimulation for intellectual growth and a firm grounding in inquiry-based learning and communication of information and ideas” through such interventions as small freshman seminar courses requiring extensive writing and block scheduling where cohorts of students are scheduled into two or three common courses, also known as “learning communities.” 2 In addition to the general literature exploring undergraduate education, several research studies into the specific problem of minority student retention in science and engineering have found that minority students face not only “structural” barriers (i.e., being under-prepared for collegelevel calculus, poor or biased advising, and lack of faculty role models/mentors) but additional psycho-social barriers that include a low estimation of their own ability as students and their ability to succeed in science and engineering—which are still perceived as white male domains. 3 Furthermore, these studies have found that minority students and women learn best collaboratively—in learning communities—where students help each other with their learning and support each other at the same time. 4 These studies further recommend interactive learning environments that encourage students to apply the abstract concepts and skills that they’ve learned in class to actual context-based activities that are relevant to their own interests. Objectives of the Study The purpose of this study was to establish a clustered integrated learning community (ILC) for freshmen engineering students who are at risk of leaving the discipline due to their initial placement in math at a level below Calculus I, specifically Intermediate Algebra. All participants in this study were clustered in common classes as a cohort in the Fall 2003 semester and were enrolled in Intermediate Algebra during this term. This study: • Measured the improvement in retention of the “at risk” students, • Measured the improvement in math performance and progression toward Calculus I, and • Assessed the attitudes of the students toward the cluster intervention program. P ge 10279.2 “Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education” Structure of the Integrated Learning Community Beginning in February 2003 the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation funded a five-year project at NMSU designed to address the barrier presented by inadequate preparation for engineering mathematics by clustering freshmen engineering students into an ILC. The ILC is an extensive one-year effort in which students are commonly grouped in four courses each semester, building on a growing trend within educational settings to create learning communities in which the courses themselves are interconnected and for faculty to be involved in finding interdisciplinary connections. 5 Further, the clusters are specifically designed to provide both social and academic support and to help students situate themselves within the engineering community as they work to complete their fundamental mathematics requirements. The selected courses are described below 6 : Fall Semester Courses: • MATH 115: Intermediate Algebra covers real numbers, linear equations, inequalities, systems of equations, polynomials and factoring, exponents, powers and roots, quadratic equations, graphing, exponential and logarithmic functions. • CE 198, Supplemental Instruction for Math 115 provides assistance in comprehending difficult math concepts and maintaining a timely schedule for completing quizzes and exams, • ENGL 111G: Rhetoric and Composition teaches skills and methods used in writing university-level essays. • EE 109: Engineering of How Things Work is an introduction to the basic science and engineering concepts of everyday devices such as DC circuits (Ohm’s Law, Batteries, System of Linear Equations) and applications using MathCAD, statistical analysis, and graphing skills. • SMET 101: Introduction to Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology is a learning course designed to help students learn, apply, and, ultimately, internalize specific learning behaviors. The instructional approach to the course links these learning behaviors to the scientific method of inquiry, which becomes the process of inquiry for the course. Students are also directed to campus offices and services providing academic counseling, tutoring, and assistance in acquiring learning and study skills. Spring Semester Courses: • MATH 185: College Algebra covers complex numbers, roots of polynomials, exponential and logarithmic functions, conics, and binomial theorem. • CE 198: Supplemental Instruction for Math 185 provides assistance in comprehending difficult math concepts and maintaining a timely schedule for completing quizzes and exams, • CHEM 111G: General Chemistry I provides instruction in descriptive and theoretical chemistry. • PHIL 240G: Ethics for Engineering and Scientific Careers is an examination of ethical dilemmas that challenge responsible engineering and scientific practices. Includes how to balance profit and risk of public harm, honesty in research, legal vs. moral responsibility, environmental concerns. • SMET 102: Introduction to Engineering Design develops a foundation and understanding P ge 10279.3 “Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education” of the engineering profession in a non-disciplinary way, develops a good basic understanding of the engineering design process, and generates excitement and enthusiasm for engineering and a commitment f