scholarly journals A First-year "Introduction to Engineering" Course at a Community College Using Hands-on MATLAB Experiment Control

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen McKnight ◽  
Michael Pelletier ◽  
Paula Leventman
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
First Year ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Experiment Control

scholarly journals Using an Implementation Trial of an ePortfolio System to Promote Student Learning through Self-Reflection: Leveraging the Success

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 263
Author(s):  
Chris Campbell ◽  
Tran Le Nghi Tran
Keyword(s):  
Educational Technology ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
First Year ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Large N ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Implementation Trial

This paper reports on a pilot study that was conducted during a technical trial of a new ePortfolio system at a large Australian university. Students from a large (n = 325) first-year educational technology course were given the opportunity to use the new ePortfolio system weekly as part of their reflective practice at the end of the hands-on tutorial classes and also through a blogging assignment that required six posts throughout the semester. Although the students reflecting on their work and ePortfolios themselves are not new concepts, this paper reports how assessment practices can be improved using ePortfolios and how students can improve their reflective practice through simple and regular use throughout the 12-week semester that the study was conducted. From the class, 208 students responded to the survey with the results being positive. The students were able to use the system easily and did not report many problems with crashing or freezing. The lessons learnt form an important part of this study for future iterations with these reported in the paper.

scholarly journals Qualitative Development of Students’ Digital Skills by Integrating a Spreadsheet Software in First Year Introduction to Engineering and Seminar Course

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (18) ◽  
pp. 213
Author(s):  
Aziatul Niza Binti Sadikin ◽  
Azizul Azri Bin Mustaffa ◽  
Hasrinah Binti Hasbullah ◽  
Zaki Yamani Bin Zakaria ◽  
Mohd Kamaruddin Bin Abd Hamid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Microsoft Excel ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Learning Skill ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Digital Skills ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Spreadsheet Software ◽  
Development Of Students

The Introduction to Engineering (ITE) and Industrial Seminar and Profession (ISP) courses conducted at School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, are integrated courses which implement the Cooperative Problem-based Learning (CPBL) methods in the same semester. Based on this integrated courses, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the qualitative impact of spreadsheet hands-on seminar on the first year students' digital skill. At the beginning of the semester, students are given sustainability-based project to work on, which requires them to collect and to report the data in a series of presentations and written reports. In order to present those data, they need to use analysis tools such as a spreadsheet software. The students are introduced with some in-depth applications of the Microsoft Excel software through the seminar sessions in the ISP course. With the knowledge that the students gain, they are expected to implement it in the CPBL project. A qualitative approach has been adopted to implement the study. Student’s reflections were used as the data source to identify common attributes that they have managed to gain from seminar sessions. This study has found that all students had primarily learned about digital skills. They perceived hand-on activity during the seminar as a good platform to acquire knowledge on basic calculation and developed learning skill on Excel. Moreover, students recognized the skills they are learning will be useful in other courses and future careers.

scholarly journals A Progressively Advancing Curriculum for Robotics Education – The Case of Toin University of Yokohama –

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-221
Author(s):  
Yasuo Hayashibara ◽  
◽  
Takeshi Agui ◽  
Takahiro Ito ◽  
Motoyoshi Ohaba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Practical Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Robotics Education ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Elective Course ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Real World Problems ◽  
Mobile Machine

We detail an educational program implemented at Toin University of Yokohama in which lab and workshop courses on automated mechanics, from basics to applications, are offered consecutively during the first three undergraduate years. Engineering is a discipline concerned with practical real-world problems, but students rarely have the chance to gain enough practical experience to effectively understanding engineering. At our department, first- to third-year students may take several hands-on courses for fabricating machines – first-year students build an automatic mobile machine, second-year students write computer programs to control the position of a robot, and some third-year students design and fabricate an entire robot from the bottom up. An elective course on robot fabrication enables students to choose individual theme. Students experience failures and discover better ways by trial and error through these processes.

Academic Achievement and Demographics of International Undergraduates

2016 ◽  
pp. 233-259
Author(s):  
Dulce Amor L. Dorado ◽  
Barry Fass-Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Community College ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Public University ◽  
Grade Point Averages ◽  
First Year ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Academic Standing ◽  
First Time

Are international undergraduates whose native language is not English less prepared to succeed academically at an American four-year institution after transferring from an American community college than ones who are first-time freshmen (NFRS) or exchange visitors (EAPR)? This question's answer was no at an American West Coast public university where five cohorts of international transfer undergraduates (TRAN) earned mean first-year grade point averages (GPA) between B- and B. Less than 12% of these students earned GPAs below C, and less than 15% were in bad academic standing (probation, subject to disqualification, or dismissed). In comparison, five parallel cohorts of NFRS and EAPR earned mean first-year GPAs averaging between B and B+ to A-. Less than 10% earned GPAs below C or were in bad academic standing. Thus, a minority of this university's international undergraduates struggled academically regardless of whether they were TRAN, NFRS, or EAPR.

Time Perspective and Grade Expectations as Predictors of Student Achievement and Retention in the First Year of Community College

2020 ◽  
pp. 152102512096067
Author(s):  
Taylor W. Acee ◽  
Meagan A. Hoff ◽  
Darolyn A. Flaggs ◽  
Breana Sylvester
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Economically Disadvantaged ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Motivational Factors ◽  
First Year ◽  
Student Background ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Orientation Course ◽  
Hispanic Serving

The authors examined three motivational factors (first-year grade expectations, present-focused time perspective, and future-focused time perspective) as predictors of achievement and retention outcomes for students ( N = 844) in their first semester at a predominately Hispanic-serving community college, accounting for student background characteristics. In this correlation research study, instructors administered surveys to students in a required first-year orientation course. Survey data was then merged with institutional data. The results of the multiple regression analysis suggested that first-year grade expectations, present-focused time perspective, age, ethnicity, first-generation status, and academically underprepared status were statistically significant predictors of first-semester GPA and explained 9.0% of the variation, whereas future-focused time perspective, sex, and economically disadvantaged status were not. First-year grade expectations and economically disadvantaged status significantly predicted second-semester retention; the other study predictors did not. This study expands research on malleable motivational factors educators could target to support students in their first year of community college.

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