Retention - Seminar Course Freshmen/Sophomore Seminar course 2 credits Professional Issues –Career Building –Sub-areas of ECE / Curriculum Options –What is Engineering / Design Ethics –IEEE Code –Case Study Discussion Practical Training –Soldering / Kit Building / Debuggin –Software Introduction - Cluster / Matlab / Spice

Results from Seminar Course Likelihood of majoring in ECE 1 - unlikely, 5 - very likely 77% very likely More or less likely to major in ECE after the course?

ECE Adventures Course Description ECE Adventures is intended for freshmen and sophomores unsure of their major or those who would like to learn about potential experiences of an Electrical and Computer Engineering student. Students learn about robots and experiment with sensors and actuators. This process will help them discover many basic ECE concepts. Fall 2006 (first semester): 23 students Spring 2007: 45 students (max space available)

Student Exposure Student used the following equipment in lab –Power Supply, Multimeter, Oscilloscope, Soldering Iron Students used the following components in lab –Protoboards, Batteries, Resistors, LEDs, switches –IR sensors, CdS cells (photo-resistors), sonar (ultrasound), LCD display panel –Servos, motors We had demonstration using the following additional equipment –LSA, Function Generator

Student Accomplishments Students constructed circuits Programmed microcontrollers Used electronic test equipment Learned a little about most of the ECE disciplines Worked in teams (including an end-of-semester competition) and gave a final presentation in class –Team pictures below from final presentation

Results from ECE Adventures Likelihood of majoring in ECE 1 - unlikely, 5 - very likely 55% very likely More or less likely to major in ECE after the course?