First Year Programmes for the degree of Bachelor of Engineering

This Position Paper, summarising the current structure and support mechanisms of First Year programmes for the Bachelor of Engineering or equivalent at Australian and New Zealand universities was initiated in response to discussions and literature searches initiated during my current sabbatical leave, one goal of which was to put together a report of “best practice” around First Year programmes. Concerns in New Zealand regarding the quality and supply of engineering graduates match the concerns expressed in the ALTC/Carrick funded review “Addressing the Quality and Supply of Engineering Graduates” (King, 2008).

The aims of the Position Paper, intended to be a stimulus for discussion around issues of common interest are:

  • To summarise how different universities in Australia and New Zealand are addressing the need to engage first year students with the engineering way of thinking and doing and provide contextual learning, but still provide the depth and breadth of engineering science fundamentals.
  • To provide examples of strategies being implemented to address student support and retention issues, and coping with the increasing diversity that has been described as “massification “ of higher education.

Commonality of first year programmes and timing of discipline choice

Most four-year professional engineering programmes have a common structure withfundamental mathematics and science in early years, and progressively morediscipline specialisation in subsequent years of study. There appears to have been a recent shift from programmes predominantly taught by Science faculty as service courses, to an increasing number of first year programmes incorporating Mathematics taught in-house as Engineering Mathematics or Mathematical Modeling and as the list below demonstrates, an increasing proportion of the first year programmes teaching engineering science fundamentals covering introductory material in civil, electrical and electronic, mechanical and chemical engineering. As such, these subjects serve both as introductions to areas of engineering science, and assist studentsto make their discipline choice.All of the first-year programs surveyed include an introduction to the engineering profession andengineering life-cycle and/or an Engineering Design course, with some exemplary examples of active and project based learning based on real-life engineering problems.

The most common first year structures are :

  • Totally common – ( i.e. at least 6/8 courses studied by all students entering the professional engineering degree programme). In some instances students still select a discipline but the common first year makes it possible to switch disciplines.Included in this group are the following universities, with those in bold type offering a degree which is more than 75% taught in house by Engineering academic staff:

South Australia (2008), Melbourne, VictoriaANU (2009), UNSW, Wollongong, Western Sydney, Macquarie, QUT (from 2010), CQU, James Cook Uni, Curtin, U. Western Australia, Edith Cowan, Tasmania (2008), Auckland, AUT, Canterbury, MIT, Waikato,

  • Broadly banded as common first year, usually one band for students pursuing electrical or computer based engineering disciplines and another band for those pursuing Civil. Mechanical or Chemical. These courses usually have between 3 and 5 courses common, but discipline specific courses are introduced in the first year.

University of Adelaide (considering more commonality), Monash, RMIT, Sydney, Griffith ( changing to common in 2010), Newcastle, Queensland, Massey

  • Very few institutions, and a few specialised engineering programmes such as Aerospace Engineering and Software Engineering lock first year students in to a specific discipline.

Three innovative curricula to give food for thought and consideration when considering the needs of our students as “Engineers for the 21st Century”

Melbourne Model – the first university to shift to a 3 yr BSc(Engineering Systems) plus 2 yr Master of Engineering model. The full ME is required for professional accreditation. Depth in a discipline is provided by the 2 year ME course while breadth is provided for the 21st century engineer in the minor subject taken for the BSc. These programmes will be fully phased in for 2011. Other universities are examining this model, which mimics the European Union Bologna Model.

Victoria University – shifting to fully common first year in 2009 delivered by PBL pedagogy labelled as Enabling Science, Electrical fundamentals and double weighted Engineering design and Practice. Ref:

University of Auckland – common first year programme taught entirely in-house since 1996, the only common first year to include Biology and Chemistry for Engineers course , introduced in 2006 and taught using a systems approach.

High ability students – incentives

An increasing trend for high-ability students to be given the opportunity of completing one or more University level papers whilst still at high school has been noted. Universities wishing to attract this level of student to engineering programmes have recognised the need to ensure that these students are challenged and engaged in their study. A number of strategies can be used as examples of best practice:

University of Sydney – replace first year Maths and Physics courses with a special project Programme continues each year of the degree

University of Auckland – Accelerated students complete BE degree in three years, by doing two extra courses per year, plus one summer school, effectively starting directly in to second year specialisation and substituting electives from within and outside engineering for most first year courses. Aim is to encourage the students to stay for a one year ME.

MonashUniversity– Scholarships and Mentoring for top students. Special leadership in Engineering programme includes a two-day residential workshop, and nine short modules (in areas including critical thinking, sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship) spread overthree years, as well as regular seminars from industry and research leaders. Shadowing and interviewing industry leaders, practical activities, team building and personal development exercises form an integral part of the program mix. Ref:

Conjoint and Double degrees

The survey identified that conjoint or double degrees continue to attract students seeking breadth in their studies. The range of students pursuing these degrees is between 10 and 44%, predominantly at the larger universities. It has been suggested that the Melbourne Model type degrees eliminate the need to complex double degree structures.

Links between Retention and Engagement

Institutions, educators and students in tertiary education are increasingly challenged by governments to contribute to national economic achievement. One aspect of this challenge is a drive to improve student success, understood as increasing or widening participation, achieving high levels of course completion and attaining a positive attitude to lifelong learning.

One of the foci for the Review (King, 2008) was attrition from undergraduate engineering study. The current levels of non completion of the engineering degree are viewed as unacceptably high and student engagement has become a major topic of research. Student engagement considers the level of student involvement in activities which will enhance their own learning. It has been recognised that the learning environment can stimulate and encourage student involvement which leads to higher retention levels.

Solid evidence based research to support implementation of first year support strategies can be provided from instruments such as the First Year Experience Questionnaire (Krause, Hartley, James, & McInnis, 2005) which has been administered at five year intervals, and the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) which focuses on individual institutions for within institutional use, but is intended to allow data to be generalisable for benchmarking purposes ( ).

Engineering Learning Spaces

Significant capital expenditure is being made on learning spaces by universities with exemplars from Australia available at

As student centred approaches to teaching and learning are being advocated along with increased diversity of student cohorts, so a change in pedagogic styles is evolving. This is driving the design or redesign of student learning environments. This is an international trend in engineering education and a report compiled for the Scottish Funding Council (2006) states that “…engineering students using technology-enabled collaborative learning modes in purpose-designed spaces showed an improved ability to solve problems, increased conceptual understanding and reduced failure rates”.

These learning spaces are usually built in conjunction with changes to the first year curriculum which emphasise group, project based, active learning, and require appropriate infrastructure and technological support. Opportunities provided by these learning spaces for social and academic networking, encouraging a sense of identity as engineers, are viewed as important for retention of engineering students – “ a place to call home”.

Curtin Uni of Technology:

University of Queensland

Reference Steer(2008) and

VictoriaUniversity

Transition Support

A smooth transition to university has been recognised as an important factor in retention and successful learning outcomes. Activities to assist in the transition can be grouped in the following four categories

Orientation

Although engineering students are encouraged to take part in University wide activities which now occur at all institutions, an increasing number of Engineering faculties are offering specific Engineering orientation activities including day long “Design Challenges” ( Adelaide, Curtin, Queensland), Residential Camps (Victoria, CQU). There appears to be a recognition of the value of introducing engineering students to the concept of entering the engineering profession, and forming social networks that will form the basis of learning communities.

Transitional mentoring

The provision of senior student “guides”, buddies or mentors who link to small groups of new students for the first 6 – 8 weeks of university life is a well embedded concept in a number of universities and these schemes have well documented flow-on effects as students move on to form their own social and academic networks. Two well established programmes are:

Uniguides programme at The University of Auckland which has four goals:

  • Orientate first year University of Auckland students
  • Team up first year students with other like-minded students
  • Provide friendship and support for first year students beginning their University career
  • Train mentors in leadership skills pertinent to the workplace, thus enhancing their CVs

This is a well established programme ( 1800 / 7000 new students including > 200 engineering students took part in 2008) which has been viewed internationally as a model. (Clark&Crome,(2003), Clark, (2008) )

UNISTEP (University Student Transition Experience Program )University of Adelaide

“Once the buzz of O'Week has settled, UniStep will help you navigate the first six weeks of University. O'Week can be information overload, so UniStep gives you a chance to find out information as you need it. Each of the six weeks in the UniStep program has a theme with related activities to help you step towards success and learn more about the Uni. And you don't need to feel like you're 'signing up' for anything – you can choose the topics you feel will best help you “.

Smooth Start (University of Adelaide) – a peer mentoring opportunity for targeted groups of students

Bridging Courses

The majority of institutions provide bridging pathways for students with identified academic weaknesses, in both technical and language skills. These are usually provided by units outside of engineering but with close communication. They are a very necessary route if growth in the pool of applicants to engineering degrees is to increase.

Drip Feeding Information to prevent Information overload

The overload of information provided to first year students in the early days of their course is a well recognised problem, which has been addressed by several universities who have initiated “drip feeding of “just in time” information dissemination. Email, information at computer “log on” to student information systems such as Blackboard, and the use of blogs and dedicated web pages all provide possible strategies.

Ongoing Academic and Social support

Additional to University Wide support provided by Academic Skills units, or Student learning centres, a variety of mentoring or peer tutoring support strategies were reported for first year student academic and social support. The use of senior students is being recognised increasingly as a valuable resource, where it is a win-win situation benefiting both the senior students themselves, as well as providing academic support and a mentoring role for the junior students ( and financial benefits for tutors in some institutions).

Peer Assisted Study Sessions

Several institutions reported running peer assisted study programs. Although known under a variety of names, several institutions (Wollongong, Western Sydney,QUT, Tasmania) follow the PASS model which is a student centred, collaborative learning program. Students who have successfully completed the unit in which PASS is running, are trained as PASS facilitators to conduct study sessions for students currently enrolled in the unit. Students work together in these sessions to address both study strategies and understanding and consolidation of content. PASS runs in units that students have found challenging in the past. Research in the US, the UK and Australia has demonstrated that students who attend PASS classes can improve both their course grade and their enjoyment of the subject. Additionally, research consistently shows that subjects that run PASS attain lower failure and attrition rates.

Identification of Students at Risk

Despite enrolling students believed to have the potential to succeed, there are always students who encounter unforeseen personal, domestic and academic difficulties. Identification strategies such as the SSAR strategy implemented at the University of South Australia ( Johnston et al, 2008) provide an effective early warning system, and increase the likelihood of retention and student success.

Women in Engineering

Few institutions reported support units for Women in Engineering ( Auckland, UTS, Monash). In 1998, fourteen universities in Australia had specific W in E support units, the female participation has not risen in either Australia or New Zealand in that time, and may wel have decreased in Australia. Female participation was identified in the Review ( King, 2008) , as it had been also in the 1996 review, as an area requiring further attention to address the complex issues influencing this under representation.

Under represented groups

Questions on this topic were not specifically asked in the survey, but observation suggests that significant under representation is evident from some social and ethnic groups.

Whilst recognising that this under representation is an ongoing challenge, an exemplar of what can be done in this direction is provided by the University of Auckland with respect to the participation of Maori and PacificIsland students.

Survey Data

An electronic copy of the data collected is available with responses from the greater majority of Australian and New Zealand universities. This has been uploaded to the ALTC Exchange site, where AAEE has been established as a group. You will need to login to access. A wiki listing First Year programme research papers has also been started for your information and ongoing amendments and additions.

References

Aziz, S. M. (2008). Engaging and supporting students in the new common first year engineering program at UniSA.Proceedings of Australasian Association for Engineering Education, Yeppoon, QLD.

Clark, W., & Crome, B. (2003). Personalising the transition experience: induction, immersion or intrusion? Paper presented at the Association for Tertiary Education Management NZ Regional Conference.

Clark, W. (2008). Student learning communities, the student experience and the institutional value proposition: a research led first year experience strategy delivers. 21st International Conference on the First Year Experience, Dublin.

Johnston, H.,Aziz, S.M., Kaya, Y., Quinn, D. (2008), Engaging students: encouraging success, Proceedings ATN Assessment Conference,Adelaide.

King, R. (2008). Addressing the Supply and Quality of Engineering Graduates for the New Century. ALTC/Carrick report, Australia.

Scottish Funding Council ( 2006), Spaces for Learning: A review of learning spaces in further and higher education. Available at (Accessed 2 December 2008)

Steer, J. (2008). Innovative engineering first year learning space: Early exploration of students’ experience at The University of Queensland. Paper presented at the 11th Pacific Rim First Year in Higher Education Conference, Hobart TAS

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Prepared E. Godfrey 5 December 2008