EDGE 2014 Program – The Formula that Works

This latest paper from the EDGE Program series briefly presents the history of the EDGE (Early Development of General Engineering) Summer Bridge Program that was initiated in 2003, and focuses on the most recent iteration of the program. Over its history this project has been supported by grants from our local college Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Education. After sustained efforts to create a stable program based on the original concept did not provide the desired results, a comprehensive examination and redesign of the program was conducted for 2013. The new version has been developed as a two year program. The first year would prepare students for College Algebra by boosting their Math proficiency and helping them acquire a strong college student identity. The second year would introduce them to college level Engineering. The new edition of the program was offered for the first time in 2013 with only the first year component. In 2014 we offered both components and made them available for returning students as well as the new ones. The robotics project, which had become very popular with students, was refined and diversified to include two sequential years of activities and challenges. This enhancement provided increased opportunity for our students to diversify their design and programming skills. The paper presents and analyzes the results of the second year of the new edition of the program and describes the long term plans to continue the program with support from other funding sources. Brief History of the Program The EDGE Program was started in 2003 1 and initially was intended to continue the work started in the established San Antonio Pre-freshman Engineering Program (PREP) 2 with a more intense focus on the Engineering profession. From the beginning its stated mission was: “The Early Development of General Engineering (EDGE) Program is designed to increase high school students’ awareness of various engineering fields and sustain their interest in the study of engineering. We recognize that Math is critical in the field of engineering; therefore, our program focuses on increasing students’ math abilities so they leave our program with the knowledge, skills, and confidence that will prepare them for successful engineering careers.” Despite the excellent reviews our program received from students, parents, and teachers, the expected enrollment numbers did not materialize as expected and the following years brought changes and new developments designed to adapt the program to the needs of a different student population than it was originally intended for. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Every year the goal has been to enroll approximately 50 students in two parallel sections. Since the program was initiated in 2003, there have only been two years when we had more than one section. Since the desired student numbers did not materialize, we began making changes that we thought would make the program more appealing without sacrificing rigor. The greatest challenge has consistently been to find a way to accommodate students who were interested in the program but not prepared for College Algebra. The next program iterations included P ge 26566.2 Introduction to Computing and then Introductory Physics as substitutes, along with self-paced computer-based math enrichment programs such as Plato. The substitute courses did not provide transferable credits (for STEM degrees) however, and as enrollments remained flat we continued to seek new program innovations. One of the annual modifications that turned out to be very popular was a robotics project. This element has become a permanent fixture of the program. During this period a multitude of engineering summer bridge programs were introduced in almost every school across the country and in our area 8,9,10, 11 . The students had multiple choices to spend their summers and enrollment reflected these competing options. Since inception the overall mission of the program has remained the same while specific components have been transformed to reflect the changing needs of our student population. A brief review of the academic accomplishments of participating students in previous EDGE programs as reported by National Student Clearinghouse in December 2014 is shown in Table 1. Education Level Enrolled in EDGE Not in Records Enrolled in a 2 Year College Graduated with Associate Degrees Enrolled in a 4 Year University Graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree Graduated with a Master’s Degree # Students 283 19 79 (30%) 32 (11%) 88 (31%) 70 (25%) 7 (2.5%) Table 1. Academic Accomplishments of Past EDGE Students The 19 students that were unaccounted for are considered to be out of the system or still in high school. Of all the students that were still enrolled or had obtained a degree, 64% of them were in a technical field. The numbers do not necessarily add up because several students earned more than one degree, or after earning their associate transferred to a 4-year institution. Changes made in 2014 The configuration of the EDGE 2014 Program was finalized as follows. The first year component (EDGE 1) was offered to all students that applied for the first time to the EDGE program and were entering high school grades 10, 11, and 12. They were enrolled in the appropriate math course following the recommendations of the new TSI 12 assessment test that replaced the old Accuplacer test. The lowest level of Math for accepted students was established at Elementary Algebra. EDGE students at the Intermediate Algebra developmental math levels were placed in an online ALEKS 13 -based class with a supervising EDGE faculty member, who is also a math instructor. Students that qualified for college level math were enrolled in regular Summer session math classes with non-EDGE college students. Once the math classes were over, the students returned to the other scheduled Year-1 activities that included a student development class (SDEV). The second year component (EDGE 2) was offered to all returning students from the first year of the previous EDGE 1 (2013), and to new students that graduated from high school and were ready for college. The returning EDGE students were enrolled in the math course that followed the one they passed in the previous EDGE year. The new high school graduates were enrolled in P ge 26566.3 the math course recommended by their TSI assessment scores. Those that had graduated from high school but tested at a math level below college algebra were placed in EDGE 1. The EDGE 2 students that qualified for college level math courses were enrolled in regular Summer math classes with other non-EDGE college students. Once the math classes were over, the students returned to the other scheduled Year-2 activities that included an Intro to Engineering class and a more advanced robotics activity. For 2014 new field trips were planned for both groups of students, and were planned for alternate sites from the previous year in order to provide the EDGE students from both years with new experiences. The range of math course levels and STEM activities developed for the EDGE 2014 year one and two is shown below: EDGE 1 EDGE 2 • MATH • MATH • Elementary Algebra • Elementary Algebra • Intermediate Algebra • Intermediate Algebra • College Algebra • College Algebra • Pre-calculus • Pre-calculus • Calculus I • Calculus I • Calculus II • Calculus II • SDEV • Intro to Engineering • STEM Activities • Advanced STEM (Robotics) Activity • Joint Field Trips The new approach, first used in 2013, to introduce students to the Engineering profession while building mathematics skills, was expanded with the year two of the program. We made a deliberate effort to minimize the time spent by the students in remedial math, while at the same time, attempting to bring to life the use of Math in the real world, particularly in engineering applications. Our aim is to dispel the proverbial “fear of Math” by demonstrating the intrinsic connection of Math with everyday problems, showing students how engineers use Math to solve these problems. Our hope is that they will discover the beauty of the engineering profession, and will be stimulated to seek out more information to choose the field of Engineering that best matches their interests. Our instructional approach is based on research on effective Engineering instruction 14 . We maintained a commitment to involve the Math department early in the planning process so we could tailor the math courses to fit the needs of the applying students. As a result, the 2014 iteration of our EDGE program had the following organization: Students were admitted to the EDGE program based on their TSI scores; o Low group – score below 342 (Math 0310 – Elementary Algebra) o Medium group – score between 343 and 349 (Math 0320 – Intermediate Algebra) P ge 26566.4 Low and medium group students were placed in the EDGE developmental math program (3 hours/day) using ALEKS, the online math assessment and learning system. The supervising professor created objectives in ALEKS for the developmental math program that included: Pre-Algebra, Geometry, Measurements, Elementary Algebra (Math 0310), and Intermediate Algebra (Math 0320). In addition, a separate ALEKS course was developed for College Algebra (Math 1414) to allow students who completed the developmental math program to continue into College Algebra using ALEKS. The syllabi for both ALEKS courses are presented in Appendix 3 and 4. o High group – score above 349 (college level math courses) These students were enrolled in the appropriate college level courses along with regular college students.