2002 Texas Technology Workforce Development Grants
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, THECB Texas Engineering and Technical Consortium, TETC
Prairie View A&M University Department of Electrical Engineering Prairie View
Launching the Texas Engineering Education Pipeline: Deploying the Infinity Project Statewide
Project Leader: Dr. John O. Attia
Project Number: 003630-EE2002-0203
Award: $77,600.
Annual Progress Report Summer 2004
Summary of Targets for Strategies: Falll 2003 through Summer 2004 Was This Project Successful? The program is a success since the retention rate of our freshmen students, who take the Infinity Project course, has increased. From the limited data collected during the past two years, the retention rate, for all freshmen students who took the Infinity Project course, has increased to 80 percent. The retention rate for all Prairie View A&M University freshmen during the 2000-2001 academic year was 69 percent. Thus, through the use of the Infinity Project we were able to increase the retention rate by 11 percent above the University average. Constraints Impacting Progress Main constraint is the lack of funds to hire a staff person who will devote major portion of his or her time towards the various recruitment efforts of the Department of Electrical Engineering. Strategies
Activity Type Emphasis of Activity Type Number of Students Involved Student Recruitment Student Retention 80 % 53 students Student Monitoring 10 % 73 students Underrepresented Students Outreach 10 % >50 students Placement Other
- Student Retention
We purchased the Infinity Project Kits for the course ELEG 1022, Fundamentals of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The kits were used to build the necessary laboratory facilities at Prairie View A&M University to support the freshman class. The course was introduced to increase the retention rate of Electrical Engineering freshman students. Four sections of the course were offered during the 2003-2004 academic year. We used the Infinity Project kit and the Infinity Project textbook for the course.- Student Mentoring
Electrical engineering students were employed during the 2003-2004 academic year to tutor Electrical Engineering students in the freshman and sophomore level courses. The tutoring was targeted for freshman students and students at risk.- Outreach
The Director of this project visited Smiley High School and Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District to talk to the schools about the advantages of introducing the Infinity Project into their curricula. In addition, the Director of this project is in talk with Hempstead Independent School District on how to introduce Engineering into the curricula of the School Districts.Usage of NI, TI, or HP Hardware/Software In-Kind Donations The Electrical Engineering Department obtained a grant of $26,000 from National Instruments (NI) in July 2003, to purchase 10 NI ELVIS Packages and LabView Software. The laboratory experiments were written to have significant number of experiments that use NI ELVIS. The new experiments were used during the Fall 2003 and Spring 2004 semesters.
Success Story The Infinity Project has helped the Electrical Engineering program to increase the retention rate of its freshmen students. Recommendations to other Project Leaders It is strongly recommended that electrical and computer engineering programs that do not use the Infinity project should take a serious look at the Infinity project. The program definitely increases the retention rate. Additional Comments text of report here Curriculum Changes No new courses were introduced this academic year. However, we offered the course ELEG 1022 Fundamentals of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The course was approved last year. We use the Infinity project kits and the textbook for the course.
Annual Progress Report Summer 2003
- Student Retention
We purchased the Infinity Project Kits for the course ELEG 1022, Fundamentals of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The kits were used to build the necessary laboratory facilities at Prairie View A&M University to support the freshman class. The course was introduced to increase the retention rate of Electrical Engineering freshman students. The course was offered during the Fall 2002 and Spring 2003 semesters. We used the Infinity Project kit and the Infinity Project text book for the course.- Student Mentoring
Two senior electrical engineering students were employed during the 2002-2003 academic year to tutor Electrical Engineering students in the freshman and sophomore level courses. The tutoring was targeted for freshman students and students at risk.Success Story Of the 22 students who took the Fundamentals of Electrical and Computer Engineering course during the Fall 2002 semester, 19 student registered and continued their education at Prairie View A&M University during the Spring 2003 semester. For the limited data available, we have a retention rate of 86 percent. The retention rate for all Prairie View A&M University freshmen during the 2000-2001 academic year was 69 percent. Thus, through the use of the Infinity Project we were able to increase the retention rate by 17 percent above the University average.
Curriculum Changes
- Course Number: ELEG 1022
Course Name: Fundamentals of Electrical and Computer Engineering Number of students effected: 37 Curriculum improvement: The course was introduced to raise the retention rates of electrical engineering freshman students.
This institution is engaged in the following strategies to increase baccalaureate degrees
(A) Increase Freshman Retention Rate
Strategy 1: (University) Type: Retention Method: Increased Laboratory Facilities, Curriculum Improvements Cost to TETC: $ We will offer the Infinity Project Curriculum to our electrical engineering freshman class. This is intended (1) to increase the freshman retention rate, (2) establish a local expertise in the Infinity curriculum and technology and (3) build the necessary laboratory facilities at Prairie View A&M University to support the freshman class and other classes in the electrical engineering program.
(B) Increase size, Quality, Diversity, and Level of Commitment of Applicant Pool
Strategy 2: (K-12) Type: Outreach Method: Summer Courses for High School Students Cost to TETC: $ We will offer the Infinity Curriculum during the summer to visiting high school students. This will be done by establishing a summer program for high school students. A faculty member and an Infinity Project master teacher will be teaching a class of 20 students per each summer.
Strategy 3: title Type: Outreach Method: High School Teacher Training Cost to TETC: $ Prairie View A&M University will serve as a Professional Development site for Infinity Project High School teachers in our area. We shall utilize our laboratories with the Infinity Project kits and our expertise in the Infinity project to instruct high school teachers with respect to the Infinity Project Curriculum and Technology.
Strategy 4: (K-12) Type: Outreach Method: Student Involvement: Student/Teacher Meetings Cost to TETC: $ Prairie View A&M University will support regional Infinity Project High School classrooms and teachers with undergraduate and graduate students from Prairie View. This will require a monthly meeting with the high school teachers. The goal of the meetings is to share better approaches to teaching the Infinity project curriculum to high school teachers.
Strategy 5: (K-12 and University) Type: Mentoring Method: Curriculum Development Cost to TETC: $ Prairie View A&M University will establish mentorship with our regional Infinity project schools and freshmen. This will be done by visiting our regional schools and helping them deploy the Infinity curriculum and technology.