TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of a freshman and pre-freshman research and design program in electrical engineering
AU - Baker, Mary
AU - Nutter, Brian
AU - Saed, Mohammed
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - It is well-known that involving students in activities and courses within their major early in their academic careers has a positive impact on student retention. We have developed several programs targeted at involving freshmen and pre-freshmen students in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) projects. Teams of 4 to 5 students were formed, with at least one ECE freshman, a high school student (or recent graduate), a junior or senior level ECE student, and a community college student. Students were paid as interns for a six-week summer session. An industry or community mentor and an ECE faculty member were assigned to each team. Projects included: re-engineering an adaptive bicycle to enable use by a physically disabled child; designing a fall detector to automatically detect a fall in an elderly person; and, implementing smart sensors to measure energy and water use in a residential environment. Students were required to give weekly presentations to the faculty members and other teams in a formal setting. In assessing the success of the program in general and of each team's progress, several factors were determined to be significant. The presence of a strong peer role model and an active industry mentor influenced the level of involvement of each team member and the progress each team made toward achieving their project goals.
AB - It is well-known that involving students in activities and courses within their major early in their academic careers has a positive impact on student retention. We have developed several programs targeted at involving freshmen and pre-freshmen students in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) projects. Teams of 4 to 5 students were formed, with at least one ECE freshman, a high school student (or recent graduate), a junior or senior level ECE student, and a community college student. Students were paid as interns for a six-week summer session. An industry or community mentor and an ECE faculty member were assigned to each team. Projects included: re-engineering an adaptive bicycle to enable use by a physically disabled child; designing a fall detector to automatically detect a fall in an elderly person; and, implementing smart sensors to measure energy and water use in a residential environment. Students were required to give weekly presentations to the faculty members and other teams in a formal setting. In assessing the success of the program in general and of each team's progress, several factors were determined to be significant. The presence of a strong peer role model and an active industry mentor influenced the level of involvement of each team member and the progress each team made toward achieving their project goals.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85029123111&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85029123111
SN - 2153-5965
JO - ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
JF - ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
T2 - 2008 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition
Y2 - 22 June 2008 through 24 June 2008
ER -