Enhancing the recruitment and retention of first-year students with improved career selection opportunities

The paper describes an on going project to improve the persistence of first year engineering technology majors. This project involves a pilot course that uses an experiential learning approach to provide students with an improved understanding of engineering and technology. The team taught course also helps to develop the students´ academic support system, including interaction with upper class technology students. Initial evaluations indicate that the students found the attitude of the faculty, the active learning instructional method, and content material helpful in their career selection and persistence in the technical area