Torquetum

 

The authors describe the first years of the engineering degree at Purdue University. Students enter a “Freshman College” at first, where they cover calculus, physics, chemistry, English and computers. Once they have achieved a C aggregate in these courses, they proceed to register with one of the engineering disciplines. Entering students write an algebra placement exam. If they fail this exam, they do a pre-calculus semester before beginning calculus. Students also have the opportunity to be fast tracked and proceed straight to second semester calculus. In a quantitative longitudinal study, the authors study the effectiveness of the various courses and the retention and graduation rates of different cohorts of students. At a point in the study, a counsellor-tutorial (CT) program was started, providing “additional services” to make the first-year experience “less lethal” (p. 409). This program was found to be successful, and became even more successful when the program was expanded to take on more students (from 80 to over 400). One concern was that providing support in first-year would merely delay drop out, however that pattern was not apparent in the data.

 

“There is a relationship between ultimately graduating in engineering and first obtaining a thorough understanding of basic mathematics and science principles. As the academic skills of the average student are honed, this relationship between these skills and the “world of engineering” becomes clearer to the engineering recruit. At Purdue University, we believe that the courses in calculus, chemistry, and physics supply the collegian with these necessary skills. We also believe that if you treat these courses as high-risk and supply additional assistance to those students with a higher probability of failure, then those students will acquire the critical background skills that will make it possible to persist in engineering.” (p. 410)