Developing a First-Year Engineering Course at a University in India: International Engineering Education Collaboration

This paper presents the results of collaborative efforts between Virginia Tech and KLE Technological University in Hubli, India to develop a first-year engineering program at KLE Technological University. A one-week workshop was held in June 2015 by one faculty and two PhD students from Virginia Tech for 25 faculty at KLE Technological University to (1) provide support in the form of shared experiences and knowledge for developing a university-wide first-year engineering course, (2) assist in the development of a Center for Engineering Education Research, and (3) initiate a real-time watershed monitoring station in India based upon a station at Virginia Tech for supporting the first-year course and collaborative watershed and engineering education research. Assessment of the one-week workshop included multiple surveys using qualitative and quantitative questions. Results indicate that faculty found the workshop useful and were motivated to improve their own teaching and pursue engineering education research. The first-year course was implemented for the first time in the fall 2015 semester with an enrollment of approximately 500 engineering students. Student learning and motivation in the course were assessed using qualitative and quantitative survey questions. Course implementation and assessment are ongoing at the time of this submittal but results will be included in the final presentation.