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The Engage Program: Implementing and Assessing a New First Year Experience at the University of Tennessee
Author(s) -
Parsons J. Roger,
Seat J. Elaine,
Bennett Richard M.,
Forrester John H.,
Gilliam Fred T.,
Klukken P. Gary,
Pionke Christopher D.,
Raman D. Raj,
Scott Tom H.,
Schleter William R.,
Weber Fred E.,
Yoder Daniel C.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of engineering education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.896
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 2168-9830
pISSN - 1069-4730
DOI - 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2002.tb00730.x
Subject(s) - graduation (instrument) , curriculum , engineering education , subject matter , class (philosophy) , medical education , academic year , psychology , engineering , mathematics education , pedagogy , engineering management , computer science , medicine , artificial intelligence , mechanical engineering
The Engage initiative at the University of Tennessee addresses the needs of entering engineering students through a new first year curriculum. The program integrates the engineering subject matter of the freshman year, teaches problem solving and design by application, and seeks to address the increased retention and graduation of engineering students. Noteworthy curriculum features of the Engage program include a hands‐on laboratory where students do physical homework to practice the concepts introduced in lectures, placing all freshman engineering students in a year‐long team design curriculum, and a team training course where engineering upperclassmen are trained in team facilitation techniques and placed as facilitators with the freshman design teams. The Engage program was piloted during the 1997–98 academic year with 60 students. In 1998–99, the program was scaled up to 150 students, and fully implemented with the entire freshman class of 465 students during the 1999–2000 academic year. Engage students have shown a significant increase in academic performance compared to students following a more traditional curriculum. Graduation statistics show the positive long‐term results of this effort.