Improving Retention in Engineering by Incorporating Applications into Freshman Calculus

该项目得到了STEP的特别资助重点“毕业生10K+”的支持，这是国家科学基金会的一项活动，部分由英特尔基金会和通用电气基金会捐赠，以刺激大学和学院的综合行动，帮助在未来十年中将工程和计算机科学专业的新学士学位毕业生的数量增加10,000。在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校（UT Austin），一年级学生退出工程专业的最常见原因是大一微积分课程不及格。为了解决这一障碍，该项目通过开发和实施针对学生通常难以理解的关键数学概念的工程经验，为新生微积分序列的学习提供了一个基于设计的环境。该项目的目标是将重新设计的一年级微积分课程的不及格率降低50%，将一年级留校率每年提高100人，达到94%，并将德州大学奥斯汀分校科克雷尔工程学院的工程专业毕业生人数每年增加110人。这个项目的智力价值在于基于循证实践开发的新生微积分序列的转化背诵部分。在该计划全面扩大后，总共有1000名工程专业学生参加了大一微积分课程的改造背诵部分。课程模块是通过工程和数学教师之间的合作开发的，而工程教育研究员，数学教学助理和工程学习助理负责实施转换后的背诵。复习部分，通过运用微积分课程中所教的概念，让学生解决基于设计的工程问题，使用了自定进度的在线教学材料和积极的、教师和同伴促进的、基于团队的活动。学生们在课前浏览有关工程挑战的在线背景信息，并解决基本问题，然后在复习课上解决额外的问题并讨论设计的含义。基于设计的工程问题也被纳入后续的基础工程课程，包括静力学、动力学和传输现象。该项目的更广泛影响是将转化后的新生微积分模型和课程材料全面传播到德克萨斯大学系统的大学、UTeach复制网站和其他机构。此外，UTeachEngineering项目还在为期一年的高中课程“工程你的世界”中采用了这些材料，该课程已被100多所学校采用。

This project is being supported under a special funding focus for STEP, "Graduate 10K+," an activity of the National Science Foundation, supported in part by donations from the Intel Foundation and the GE Foundation, to stimulate comprehensive action at universities and colleges to help increase the annual number of new B.S. graduates in engineering and computer science by 10,000 over the next decade.At the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), the most common reason for which first-year students withdraw from engineering is failure in freshman calculus courses. To address this barrier to retention, the project is providing a design-based context for learning in the freshman calculus sequence by development and implementation of engineering experiences that target key mathematical concepts with which students typically struggle. The goal of this project is to decrease failure rates in the redesigned first-year calculus courses by 50 percent, raising first-year retention by 100 students annually to 94 percent, and increasing the number of engineering graduates from the Cockrell School of Engineering at UT Austin by 110 per year. The intellectual merit of this project lies in the transformed recitation sections of the freshman calculus sequence that are being developed based on evidence-based practices. At full scale-up of the program, a total of 1000 engineering students are enrolled in the transformed recitation sections of freshman calculus classes. Course modules are being developed through collaborative efforts between engineering and mathematics faculty, while a Fellow in Engineering Education, mathematics teaching assistants, and engineering learning assistants implement the transformed recitations. The recitation sections, which engage students in solving design-based engineering problems by applying the concepts being taught in the calculus course, are using a combination of self-paced, online instructional materials and active, instructor- and peer-facilitated, team-based activities. Students view online background information about engineering challenges and work basic problems prior to class, then solve additional problems and discuss design implications in their recitation sections. The design-based engineering problems also are being incorporated into subsequent fundamental engineering courses including Statics, Dynamics, and Transport Phenomena. The project's broader impacts are being realized in the comprehensive dissemination of the transformed freshman calculus model and course material to universities in the University of Texas System, UTeach replication sites, and other institutions. In addition, the UTeachEngineering program is adopting the material in the curriculum for the year-long high school course "Engineering Your World," which has been adopted by more than 100 schools.