West Virginia University is gaining national attention for its successful efforts to increase the number of engineering freshmen who succeed academically.
Robin Hensel, who has coordinated the Freshman Engineering Program in WVU s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources since 2004, recently received recognition from the American Society for Engineering Education for a paper focusing on ways to help engineering freshmen succeed in calculus, a critical component of the engineering curriculum.
The paper,Breaking the Cycle of Calculus Failure: Modes of Early Math Intervention to Enhance Engineering Retention,won third place in the Best Paper Award competition at organizations national conference in June in Pittsburgh.
Andrew Lowery and Ryan Sigler, who work with Hensel in the Freshman Engineering Program, were co-authors of the paper.
First-year students in engineering take a challenging load of math and science courses, Hensel said, and nationally, nearly half of them end up transferring into other majors or leaving college altogether.
Many freshmen have difficulty with calculus,she said.Therefore, we have focused a great deal of our efforts on helping students succeed in this area.
Hensel collaborated with WVU colleagues in engineering and math to develop early intervention and grade-recovery programs in calculus. These programs help identify students who are struggling with the material early in the semester and provide them with extra help and the opportunity to bring up their grades.
For students who need a little longer to master the material, the Department of Mathematics has also developed and now offers a two-semester-long Calculus I course, which greatly benefits many engineering freshmen.
The Freshman Engineering Program also offers daily study labs that engineering freshmen are required to attend at least two hours per week, unless they test out of the requirement early in the semester.
All of these efforts are making a difference. From 2001 to 2004, Hensel said freshman retention in engineering at WVU averaged 65 percent. Currently, it is about 72 percent. This puts WVU well above the national average for freshman engineering retention.
Hensel said she is pleased with the improvement WVU has achieved, but that she believes continued improvement is possible and desirable.
Our philosophy is that all students who are accepted into our program have the potential to succeed,she said,and we are committed to doing everything we can to help them reach that goal. In dealing with so many students from various backgrounds with different needs, we are always looking for new ways to improve our programs.
Hensel earned her bachelors degree in math from Wheaton College in Illinois, her masters degree in math from State University of New York at Buffalo and her doctorate in math education from WVU .
Her energy and commitment to WVU s freshman engineering students are evident in the students lined up outside her door knowing shell take the time to help them.
We are committed to providing our students with a positive environment and encouraging them to form good working relationships with peers and professors and to learn the study skills that will help them survive and thrive,she said.
She also is excited about the upcoming opening of the Engineering Learning Center, which will be housed in the Engineering Sciences Building addition scheduled to open this fall. The center will provide new computer and study labs and a convenient, central location for students to work on projects, receive advising and meet with tutors.