Online Lessons to Help Engineering Students Transition
Patrick Tebbe
Minnesota State University - Mankato
Aaron Budge
Minnesota State University - Mankato
Keywords: engineering, captivate, scaffolding, online, statics, matlab
Abstract
Students in engineering programs take a number of prerequisite courses that develop the needed skills and knowledge for later, upper division courses. Weaknesses in these prerequisites occur due to differences in transfer curriculums, instruction, and individual student performance. When there are weaknesses, the student’s performance in later courses suffers, sometimes to the point where they cannot successfully complete the major. This project seeks to improve retention and successful completion of mechanical and civil engineering degrees with a set of online corrective lessons to help at-risk students transition successfully into upper-division courses. Lessons will be developed for key prerequisites in mechanical and civil engineering, integral calculus, differential equations, statistics, dynamics, and computer programming. They will be modular, customizable for individual student needs, and will provide interactive feedback to help students master concepts. This material is not intended to replace existing courses in these areas. Rather, it will help students correct specific weaknesses in terms of knowledge and skills that will be required in later courses.
