A creative first-year program to improve the student retention in engineering

Abstract

In this paper, we study the effect of a new first-year program on student retention rates in engineering. First-year engineering students face unique challenges attending a university. In fact, research shows that the dropout rate among first year students is the highest in engineering programs. To be able to increase retention rates, it is important to understand the reasons engineering students are not completing their programs. This is a rising concern in all engineering programs across the nation. We believe that the lack of hands-on, team-based experiences in a typical first-year engineering curriculum is one of the main reasons students leave the program after completing their first year. Furthermore, it is difficult for the first-year students to connect the concepts of math and science with engineering. Therefore, we need a first-year engineering curriculum that can fill the gap between the fundamentals of abstract math and physics and the application of those fundamentals in solving engineering problems. Thus, we have created a first-year learning community as a solution to low retention rates in engineering. In this learning community, the first-year students take the following courses together: • An interdisciplinary freshman experiences course, in which we teach the concept of "Design-Build-Test-Improve-Collaborate" to the students. The students take the ownership of their group projects, while working together and building friendships that last. • An appropriate Math course (Calculus or Pre-Calculus), which is specifically designed to address the applications of math in engineering. • An English composition class, which focuses on "Writing in Engineering". The main goal of this research is to improve the retention rate of first-year engineering students, by developing a first-year engineering curriculum that can provide additional support and unique learning opportunities in students' entry-level classes.