A new course offered by the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering aims to help first-year students navigate the difficult transition from high school to engineering classes. The one-credit class, called “Engineering Your Success,” is part of a larger initiative to increase retention and student success in engineering and across CSU.
The average GPA of incoming students in CSU engineering has been rising, said Becki Atadero, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering who was asked to lead the broader retention focused effort. Still, even students with impressive academic records sometimes have differing levels of readiness for the challenges of engineering coursework.
First-generation students, recipients of need-based financial aid, and racially minoritized students are especially vulnerable, as evidenced by lower retention and graduation rates among these populations.
“We’re not serving our students equitably when we assume they all come in with the same background knowledge,” said Atadero.
Toppling walls, building ladders
Historically, the first year of science and engineering education was often designed as a barrier to entry, “weeding out” students who were considered “unfit” to be engineers or scientists.
Atadero describes modern engineering education as shifting away from an emphasis on punishing failure. The goal now is to encourage students to take risks and help them learn to succeed.
“The problem with ‘weed-out’ classes is we often discourage students who would ultimately make really good engineers,” said Doug Fankell, an assistant professor with the Department of Mechanical Engineering who served as the course coordinator leading curriculum development for the new class.
The world needs engineers, and engineering can have life-or-death stakes, Fankell said. “If I’m driving over a bridge, I want to know that bridge is safe,” he said. “We can’t lower our standards, so we need to be able to bring more people up to those standards.”
Data-driven and principled
Similar first-year seminars in other programs have demonstrated their effectiveness, so Atadero is optimistic about the “Engineering Your Success” course. Like all engineers, she’s focused on the data.
“We’re working with the CSU STEM Center to assess the class,” she said. “Students will complete surveys about their experiences, and we’ll compare participant first-semester GPAs with non-participants. We’re going to analyze the data to see if this is improving student success and retention in the college.”
Fankell and Atadero see CSU’s land-grant mission as the touchstone inspiring this effort. That heritage carries an obligation to serve the whole state, and to ensure that the benefits of the research and education conducted on campus are felt everywhere.
The college – and President Amy Parsons – have identified a focus on student access and success as a key element of their most recent strategic plans.
Atadero also sees “Engineering Your Success” as a way to serve first-year prospective engineers who will take the new class this semester, and the communities who will one day benefit from their talents.
“There’s room in the engineering profession for people with different skillsets and strengths,” Atadero said. “We want you to succeed. We’re putting this time and effort into helping you grow as a student so that you can be successful.”
