Poster for Reforming The First Year Engineering Experience Workshop 2009

1. Reforming The First Year Engineering
Experience Workshop 2009
John Ventura
Christian Brothers University
August 2009
ECE 101 INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING PROBLEM SOLVING
Purpose of Course
• Students are introduced to engineering disciplines and
careers, role of the engineer in society, engineering
approach to problem-solving, process of learning,
engineering design process, and engineering ethics
• Students are introduced to EXCEL, MATLAB, and C++ and
the application of the software to engineering problems

2. Raymond B. Landis, Studying Engineering – A Road Map to
a Rewarding Career (Chapters 1-4), Discovery Press, 2007
1. Keys to Success in Engineering Study
– What is Success?
– Models for Viewing Your Education
2. The Engineering Profession
– What is Engineering
– Engineering as a Profession
3. The Teaching/Learning Process
– What is Learning
– How do we Learn
4. Making the Most of How You Are Taught
– Preparing for Lectures
– Making Effective Use of Lectures

3. Harvey G. Stenger and Charles R. Smith, Introduction to C++, Excel
MATLAB® & Basic Engineering Numerical Methods – Basic Numerical
Methods (DVD), Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2009 (New Version 1.1 - 2010)
2. Programming in C++
– Dev-C++ compiler
– Organizing and running a simple C++ programs
– Basic C++ concepts and operations - Control Statement, formatted outputs,
and arrays
3. Excel
– Basic calculations
– Formatting a table
– Plotting data
4. Numerical Methods and Engineering Calculations
– Linear interpolation
– Numerical differentiation
– Numerical integration
5. Programming in MATLAB
– Understanding matrices
– Matrix math
– Inputting data
– Plotting

4. Lessons Learned – First Year
• Improved retention rate in electrical engineering
• Improved success rate in calculus
• Students commented, “Because of this ECE 101
class, I now what to expect later in my college
career.”
• Need to add hands-on projects such as build a
simple motor or robot.
• Need to increase exposure to engineering
professionals