What is Lifelong Learning in First-year Engineering Students? Creating a Baseline for Future Development

Abstract

Jacob T Allenstein is a graduate student in Aerospace Engineering at The Ohio State University in the process of a Ph.D. Jacob received his B. Sci in Aerospace Engineering in June of 2011 and a Master of Science (Aerospace Engineering) in December 2013. Currently, he is a graduate teaching associate (GTA) for the Engineering Education Innovation Center (EEIC) at The Ohio State University where he multimanages both first year engineering students in the First Year Experience Program and senior capstone students going through the Multidisciplinary Capstone Program. Outside teaching, he is also a graduate research associate (GRA) with a research focus on the aerodynamics of jet engines, jet engine simulators, and jet engine testing facilities. Because lifelong learning is vital to an engineer's career, the accreditation board for engineering and technology (ABET) included lifelong learning as one of its student outcomes. ABET states that by graduation students should have "a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning."3 At The Ohio State University's Engineering Education Innovation Center (EEIC), students are offered a wide range of engineering courses through the first-year engineering program and a senior-year multidisciplinary capstone program. A requirement for all first-year engineering students at the university is to complete a two-semester sequence which has been designed to give students a broad understanding of the principles and practices of engineering. There are three different course sequences that students can choose from to fulfill their prerequisite for their specific discipline. The three course sequences are standard, scholars, and honors which are accepted by all 14 engineering disciplines offered at The Ohio State University. The 14 engineering disciplines include the following; aeronautical and astronautical, aviation, biomedical, chemical, civil, computer science, electrical and computer, engineering physics, environmental, food, agricultural, and biological, industrial and systems, material science, mechanical, and welding engineering.The most common course option for first-year engineering students is the standard first-year engineering program (St). This course sequence focuses on the fundamentals of engineering such as; problem solving, design, computer programming, and engineering graphics. This is the most popular option at the university with approximately 73 percent of engineering students enrolling in this two-course sequence.The first-year engineering honors program (H) at The Ohio State University is an optional course sequence that is offered to university Honors-designated engineering students. The course sequence is an accelerated program to challenge students that includes the fundamentals of engineering with additional programming content and an intense design-build-test project.Another option for first-year engineering students is the first-year engineering scholars program (Sc). This two course sequence focuses on teaching the fundamentals o...

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