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Enhancing Student Success Through a Model "Introduction to Engineering" Course, RAYMOND B. LANDIS, California State University, Los Angeles

 May 28 – 30, 2008 at CSUDH, Carson, CA (Los Angeles area)  

Course fee $50                                            

"Sink or Swim."  For decades that policy has determined the success or failure of America's first year engineering students.  The general paradigm has been to put up a difficult challenge and "weed out" those students that don't measure up.  Fortunately, engineering education in the United States is undergoing a revolution.  We are in the process of a shift from the "sink or swim" paradigm to one of "student development."  Engineering colleges all across the nation are revising their freshman year curricula with the primary goal of enhancing student success.The short course will discuss the results of a National Science Foundation Course and Curriculum Development grant in which faculty from thirteen universities worked collaboratively to develop and document an Introduction to Engineering course designed to enhance student success by addressing five primary themes: community building; professional development; academic success strategies; personal development; and orientation to the university and the engineering program.  Participants will learn general pedagogical approaches for working with students to change their attitudes and behaviors and specific content and approaches for accomplishing important objectives under each of the five primary themes.The format of the course will be strongly interactive.  Emphasis will be placed on group problem solving and on experiential learning.

Intended Audience:  Engineering faculty, minority engineering program staff, and engineering student services staff that are working to enhance engineering student success through summer orientations, formal academic year courses, or formal and informal advising and mentoring.  

Prerequisites: None

Dr. Landis is Dean Emeritus of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology at California State University, Los Angeles.  He is a nationally recognized expert on engineering student retention and the author of the best-selling Introduction to Engineering textbook—Studying Engineering: A Road Map to a Rewarding Career—now in its 3^rd Edition with over 80,000 copies in print.  He is recognized as the "father" of Minority Engineering Programs (MEPs) in the U.S.  His "community building/collaborative learning" MEP model has been widely implemented at universities all across the nation.