Work in progress - improving the freshman engineering experience

In an effort to improve retention of engineering students, the College of Engineering at Utah State University piloted an effort to strengthen the freshman experience. Four different experiences were provided fall semester, 2003, and data was collected to determine which combination of experiences or factors were critical in retaining students. The first experience was a class targeted at electrical and computer engineering (ECE) majors. This class required concurrent enrollment in calculus I and focused on key concepts relevant to ECE majors. The next two experiences were offered in a second class to freshmen less certain of their major and requiring no mathematics prerequisite. This class was randomly divided into two laboratory groups - the first representing teams working on "paper designs" and the second representing cooperative teams in a hands-on laboratory approach. The fourth experience was essentially no experience. Those majoring in mechanical engineering took the required math, science, and general education courses.