The Evolution of the Freshman Engineering Experience to Increase Active Learning, Retention, and Diversity—Work in Progress

This work in progress will describe the process of developing two new freshman engineering courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering to increase active learning, retention, and diversity. Our Introduction to Engineering and Design course is currently undergoing significant changes due to the desire to emphasize active and cooperative learning and increase diversity. Moreover, with our new direct admission model, there is a need to provide incoming engineering freshmen with a supportive and informative environment. At this time, our engineering college is also facing substantial budget cuts to education, requiring partial departmental buy-in to participate in multidisciplinary freshman engineering courses. Given the current situation, budget constraints, and available resources, we seek to determine the best course of action to provide a supportive and active learning environment and increase retention in underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities and women of all ethnicities (URMs). We have analyzed retention data, and will survey engineering students (from the past three years, including those who left engineering) on their freshman engineering experiences. This data will provide information to aid in the development of our two new freshman engineering courses. Introduction Our college of engineering at UW-Madison has twelve majors (nine departments) and has had approximately 1200-1300 new freshmen each year. We have offered several interdisciplinary freshman engineering courses over the past few decades, each slightly different. Currently, in our largest course (~1000 students per year out of 1200-1300 total engineering freshman), Introduction to Engineering and Design (Intro 160), students participate in lectures covering design topics that span multiple disciplines of engineering. In the laboratory section of this course, they work in teams of 8-12 to solve a real-world, client-based engineering design problem proposed mostly by individuals in the local community and industries. The other introduction to engineering courses (Intro 101 and 102) are much smaller (~100 students collectively), and do not have hands-on labs with client-based projects. As a result of budget constraints, the college has recently decided to end all existing college-wide interdisciplinary introductory engineering courses (as of the end of the spring 2016 semester) and has tasked us with developing just one or two new engineering college interdisciplinary freshman courses to take their place. We are currently developing two new freshman engineering courses to be piloted Fall 2016: a one credit seminar course, Introduction to Engineering; and a two credit hands-on design course, Design Practicum. These two new courses will likely take the place of all other multi-disciplinary freshman engineering courses. This makes it critical that every effort is made to develop cutting-edge courses that satisfy all engineering departments. With this fresh start to the freshman engineering experience, we have the opportunity to significantly change course style and content. In the United States, retention of underrepresented minorities including women continues to be significantly lower than non-underrepresented men. [1] Our engineering college continues to have a large gender and ethnicity gap, with just 19.9 % female, 3.5% Latino, 1.8 % African American, 0.8 % American Indian/ Alaskian Native, and 0.2 % Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander as of Fall 2014. Our engineering college is concerned about this lack of diversity and we are hoping to make significant improvements in retention of URMs including women. History of Introduction to Engineering Courses Our first introduction to engineering course was introduced in 1986 (Intro 101), and was essentially a survey course that covered various engineering disciplines. It was lecture only, without any team-based projects or hands-on labs. In 1995, Intro 160 was introduced and is described as a course that provides incoming freshman with an overview of engineering based on a "hands-on" experience with a client-centered engineering design project. Intro 160 covers the same topics as Intro 101 in a lecture format, but also includes this hands-on lab. Due to its popularity, the course has expanded to serve almost one thousand students per year. The class meets twice a week in lecture format where the design process is taught and significant societal issues are discussed, such as: clean water, sustainability, energy, health care, and engineering ethics. The class also meets once per week for three hours of lab where students work on teams to solve real-world engineering problems with real clients. This course has undergone continuous evolution to improve both the lecture and lab components. The lectures have evolved to include guest speakers that cover engineering grand challenges that showcase the interdisciplinary nature of engineering design and the current societal issues these students will face. The Intro 160 course has also adjusted to include more emphasis on interpersonal soft skills for effective project and team management, as well as more technical training such as engineering shop training, computer-aided design, electronic notebooks, and technical communication. In 2008, another course was developed (Intro 102), which is similar to Intro 101, but also includes lectures with engineering grand challenges. Again, this Intro 102 does not have any projects or hands-on labs. Intro 160 remains the most popular of all introductory freshman courses. As our college undergoes change, we hope to create new courses that: evolve with advancing technology, include current engineering grand challenges, offer engaging and interactive lectures, and encourage underrepresented minorities, including women, to stay in engineering. Freshman Engineering Course Requirements Our engineering college has not yet decided how many introduction to engineering credits will be required for freshman, however the new one credit seminar style course, Introduction to Engineering, will be required for all engineering freshmen. Up until now, two credits have been required for all engineering departments, and they had the freedom to choose from a variety of interdisciplinary courses. A minimum of two credits will be required going forward. (The Equity and Diversity Committee, and the Diversity Affairs Office are trying to change this requirement to three credits.) The old interdisciplinary courses are no longer available, thus departments must either participate in both new interdisciplinary courses, or create another course of at least one additional credit. Departments that have chosen not to participate in the two credit course will have to provide at least one more credit of introduction to engineering to their freshmen. One department, mechanical engineering, has chosen to create their own new freshman course. This course is not interdisciplinary. The other departments not participating in Design Practicum already have department specific courses that satisfy the requirements. Again, these courses are not interdisciplinary. Structure of the New Interdisciplinary Freshman Courses The following descriptions are the current summaries of the two new freshman introductory interdisciplinary engineering courses. Some content has yet to be determined. In particular, curriculum to provide an inclusive classroom and active learning strategies are still in the development phase. The one credit seminar course, Introduction to Engineering, will be required for all engineering freshman (approximately 1100 expected freshmen Fall 2016) and will cover topics of interest to incoming engineering freshmen during the first few weeks such as: engineering societies/student organizations, study abroad, campus resources, and career services. The next few weeks will have panels of faculty representing 3-4 engineering majors per week. These faculty have been asked to briefly (10 minute presentations) present the most exciting and current research and events within their department. The subsequent lectures will be seminar style with guest speakers (both faculty and industry have been invited) from a variety of engineering disciplines focusing on the grand challenges of various engineering disciplines. Students will be assigned weekly reading assignments related to the lecture topics of the week, and will be quizzed on both the lectures and the reading assignments. The two credit course, Design Practicum, is a hands-on design course with lectures and labs that will introduce students to relevant topics in engineering including: problem solving, team design, innovation, information technology, engineering, ethics in engineering, community engagement and social responsibility. This course will require partial departmental financial support, thus not all departments are currently committed to participating due to budget concerns. Just over half of our engineering college is currently planning to participate, with approximately 600 students expected to enroll this coming year. (Fall 2016/Spring 2016) This course is modeled after the popular Intro 160 course and will have teams of students solving real-world engineering problems with real clients. In addition, this course will offer more department involvement via online videos and lectures. Collectively, the online videos, lectures, and tutorials will provide a "flipped classroom" style course. Students will complete assignments that align with learning the engineering design process including: online assignments, solve engineering problems, build and manage teams, fabricate and test prototypes, give presentations, and write a technical report. Active Learning Strategies Active learning is generally defined as anything in addition to the passive listening of a traditional lecture format. There is some disagreement regarding the most effective active learning strategies [2, 3], thus we