The document discusses approaches to attracting and retaining engineering students, focusing on a new 3-quarter sequence approach at the University of Washington Tacoma. The sequence incorporates hands-on projects like building with Legos in the first quarter and team-based projects in later quarters. Observations found students enjoyed the hands-on work but wanted more lab time and instruction to better understand and contribute to team projects. The conclusion recommends adding more lab time and an introductory lab project with senior tutoring to improve the sequence.

1. Attracting & Retaining Engineering Students-A New Approach Larry Wear [email_address] . washington . edu Professor & Associate Director Institute of Technology University of Washington Tacoma Orlando Baiocchi [email_address] Professor & Director Institute of Technology University of Washington Tacoma

2. A well known problem http://www.virtualpet.com/engineer/retent/retent.htm First Term Probation: Models for Identifying High Risk Students. 30th ASEE/ IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference. 2000. Focuses on freshmen students, however several of the concepts might also apply to upperclassmen. FRESHMEN. Thinking Inside of the Box: Retention of Women in Engineering. 30th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference. 2000. Describes efforts at Penn State to increase retention of women. Engineering Retention: National and Institutional Perspectives. Proceedings, 1988 ASEE Annual Conference. ASEE, 1988. Pgs. 843-851. By W.K. LeBold and S.K. Ward. 1988. Developing a Six Sigma Methodology for Improving Retention in Engineering Education. Keith Hargrove and Legand Burge. ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference. Article focuses 6 sigma techniques on retaining minority engineering students. Attrition variables are seen as "defects". Student Retention Strategies Gender Clustering. ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Washington, D.C., Jun. 1996. Virginia Polytech has voluntarily clustered its Intro to Engineering class sections by gender to allow females to form friendships with other females. FRESHMEN. Identifying Factors Influencing Engineering Student Graduation and Retention: A Longitudinal and Cross-Institutional Study. Proceedings. ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, Quebec, Jun. 2002. Compares effectiveness of active, cooperative learning environment v. traditional teaching methods. Systems Model for Improving Standards and Retention in Engineering Education. ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Albuquerque, NM, Jun. 2001. A four-step procedure is proposed by a professor at Florida A&M / Florida State: problem diagnosis, evaluation and analysis, system model design, and design implementation. Women in Engineering at North Carolina State University: An Effort in Recruitment, Retention and Encouragement. Proceedings 29th ASEE / IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, San Juan, PR, Nov. 1999.

3. Previous Approaches Freshmen Introductory Classes Introduction to design Fun & games classes Course Sequencing Help classes for engineering & math Special classes- robots, team projects other

4. UWT Computer Engineering Approach Three-quarter sequence 1 unit/quarter 2 hrs/week Required for freshmen

5. 1st Quarter Course Syllabus 2 weeks- overview of product development life-cycle 2 weeks- Lego MindStorm introduction 2 weeks- Logic design with Logic Works 2 weeks- Lego contest 2 weeks- Analog design with Pspice, introduction to project teams

6. 2nd Quarter Course Syllabus Team formulation Team training and inspection process Project concept document review & inspection Project requirements document review & inspection Project design documents review & inspection Project status presentations

7. 3rd Quarter Course Syllabus Test Plan review & inspection Parts locator Assembler Unit testing System testing Status reports

8. Observation from TCES 101 All students liked the Legos project Some liked the competition aspect Most wanted more lab time Use of equipment Use of simulation software High student evaluation

9. Observation from TCES 102 Liked being part of a team Didn’t like all the paperwork Wanted to know more so they could understand and contribute more

10. Conclusions More lab time in 101 Assign teams early in 102 Introduce simple lab project in 102 with tutoring by seniors