Improving Retention in Engineering by Incorporating Applications into Freshman Calculus

这个项目得到了STEP的特别资金支持，这是国家科学基金会的一项活动，部分得到了英特尔基金会和GE基金会的捐款支持，旨在刺激大学和学院采取综合行动，帮助在未来十年内将工程学和计算机科学的年度理学士毕业生人数增加1万人。在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校(UT Austin)，一年级学生退出工程学最常见的原因是新生微积分课程不及格。为了解决这一障碍，该项目正在提供一个基于设计的环境，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，来学习新生微积分序列。该项目的目标是将重新设计的一年级微积分课程的失败率降低50%，将一年级学生的年保留率提高100人，达到94%，并将德克萨斯州奥斯汀大学科克雷尔工程学院的工程学毕业生人数每年增加110人。这个项目的智力价值在于正在基于循证实践开发的新生微积分序列的转换背诵部分。在该项目全面扩大的情况下，新生微积分课堂的改造背诵部分共招收1000名工科学生。通过工程学和数学系之间的合作，课程模块正在开发中，而一名工程教育研究员、数学助教和工程学习助理正在实施改造后的复习。复习部分通过应用微积分课程中教授的概念来让学生解决基于设计的工程问题，采用了自定进度的在线教学材料和积极的、由教师和同伴推动的团队活动相结合的方式。学生在上课前查看有关工程挑战和工作基本问题的在线背景信息，然后解决其他问题并在复习部分讨论设计含义。基于设计的工程问题也将被纳入后续的基础工程课程，包括静力学、动力学和运输现象。该项目的更广泛的影响正在通过向德克萨斯大学系统中的大学、UTeach复制站点和其他机构的大学全面传播转变后的新生微积分模型和课程材料来实现。此外，UTeachEngineering计划在为期一年的高中课程“设计你的世界”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.