Making Early Positive Impact on Freshmen through Engineering Technology Seminars

Freshmen admitted to the engineering technology (ET) program at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (UPJ) are required to take a noncredit ET seminar. Freshmen meet weekly for one hour with an ET senior instructor. The seminar instructor implements a variety of activities throughout the semester aimed at positively influencing the attitudes and habits of freshmen in order to better prepare them for the demands of the ET program as well as their own lives. The activities allow students to self-examine themselves and have a better feel for what it takes to succeed in the ET program and in life in general. To better understand the influence of the seminar on freshmen students, a survey at the end of the semester asked the freshmen class to recall the lessons learned from the ET seminar about “themselves,” “succeeding in the ET program,” and “life in general.” Numerous freshmen students have emphasized the significant influence this ET seminar and its instructor had on their attitudes, habits, and other aspects of their lives. The ET seminar weekly activities and the results of the survey are summarized and presented. The paper provides ideas for engineering technology programs looking for ways to have significant early positive impact on their freshmen students that lasts beyond their college years.