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Reinforcing Math Placement through a Summer Bridge Program: Work in Progress

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Conference

ASEE Southeast Section Conference

Location

Arlington, Virginia

Publication Date

March 12, 2023

Start Date

March 12, 2023

End Date

March 14, 2023

Conference Session

Mathematics and Material Science

Tagged Topic

Professional Engineering Education Papers

Page Count

7

DOI

10.18260/1-2--45036

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/45036

Download Count

49

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Paper Authors

biography

Elizabeth A. Powell Tennessee Technological University

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Dr. Beth Powell has a doctorate in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Louisville. Her research is in engineering communication, and she works as the Assistant Director for the College of Engineering Student Success Center at Tennessee Tech Un

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biography

Kumar Yelamarthi Tennessee Technological University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-0072-3909

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Kumar Yelamarthi received his Ph.D. and M.S degree from Wright State University in 2008 and 2004, and B.E. from University of Madras, India in 2000. He is currently the Associate Dean and Professor in the College of Engineering at Tennessee Tech University. In the past, he served as the Director for School of Engineering and Technology, and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and at Central Michigan University (CMU). He served as the chair for Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering programs, and Assistant to the Dean of College of Science and Engineering at CMU. His research interest is in the areas of Internet of Things, wireless sensor networks, edge computing, embedded systems, and engineering education. He has published over 160 articles and delivered over 100 talks in these areas. He has successfully raised several externally funded grants of over $1.5 Million from organizations such as NSF, NASA, and the industry.

Throughout his career, Yelamarthi has launched multiple engineering programs, including undergraduate programs and 2+2 programs with international universities, as well as CMU’s graduate program in engineering. He has served as a chair, technical program committee chair, treasurer for several international conferences, and as a reviewer and panelist for numerous externally funded proposals. He served as editor for journal special issues, currently serves as the topic editor for Sensors, on the editorial board for Internet of Things journal, and International Journal of Forensic Software Engineering,. He has served as the Chair of IEEE Northeast Michigan Section, and vice-chair for ASEE North Central Section.

He is a senior member of IEEE, founding advisor for the IEEE Student Chapter at CMU, an elected member of Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society, Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society, and a senior member of IETI.

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Abstract

Engineering relies on the principles of mathematics and science. All courses engineering students pursue while in college are based on these two key areas. At the ____ University, while students are required to take Calculus I in the first semester, more than 50% of students enroll in college algebra or pre-calculus. This is due to a lack of math preparedness in high school or low ACT scores. This lack of preparedness and having to start at college algebra of pre-calculus often adds time to students' graduation, and also leads to higher attrition in the first year.

____ University has piloted a Reinforce Advanced Math Placement (RAMP) program in summer 2022 for 100 first-time freshman students in engineering, engineering technology, and computer science majors. The recruited students participated in a one-week residential program with an extensive focus on preparing for math and engineering courses, retaking the math placement test for potential placement in an advanced-level math course, social team-building activities, learning about academic support resources available on campus, and broadly obtaining a jump-start on college life.

This program started in the summer of 2022 and provided students with 20 hours of math instruction to review the math skills required during the first year of college. This math instruction was provided at three levels including college algebra, pre-calculus, and calculus-I. The instruction was provided by math faculty members, with peer-mentoring support provided by upper-class engineering students. In the pilot implementation, 83 engineering students participated, and 74 students took the Accuplacer test at end of the program. 66% of the students that took the Accuplacer test scored higher, moved up by at least one math course, reducing their time to graduation by one semester. This paper presents a detailed description of the program implementation, results, and feedback obtained.

Powell, E. A., & Yelamarthi, K. (2023, March), Reinforcing Math Placement through a Summer Bridge Program: Work in Progress Paper presented at ASEE Southeast Section Conference, Arlington, Virginia. 10.18260/1-2--45036

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