Session M2E 1-4244-0257-3/06/$20.00 © 2006 IEEE October 28 – 31, 2006, San Diego, CA 36 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference M2E-21 Retention Implications of the Use of Hand-Held PC’s in a First-Year Engineering Intro Course Jerome Lavelle, Dianne Raubenheimer, and Brian Koehler First Year Engineering Program, College of Engineering, NC State University Raleigh, NC 27695 Abstract - This study investigated the effects of early exposure to mobile technology on the academic success of first-semester underrepresented populations in engineering and computer science. Literature and data show that underrepresented populations (women and ethnic minorities) enrollment in engineering has been flat (or slightly declining) over the period of the last 10 years. The present study is directed at not recruiting more such students to the pool, rather, it is directed at understanding elements associated with keeping more of those who enroll initially. Namely, it involves retention. In this study it was observed that students using handheld computers increased their self confidence in using technology and that technology was not as distracting to them. However, due to the small sample population, effects on retention and matriculation rates were mixed. Index Terms – Retention in Engineering, First Year Engineering, Technology in Engineering Education. BACKGROUND This paper is concerned with the issue of student retention among populations traditionally underrepresented in engineering — women and ethnic minorities. At its core, retention can be viewed as the “yield” activity of the education enterprise. In engineering education, over the years, many researchers have endeavored to understand the factors that influence students’ success in engineering. This research suggests that we do know a lot about student success in studying engineering, and many substantial contributions have been made to the body of knowledge concerning engineering education. As an example, Felder et al., in a series of studies which considered longitudinal data on student performance and retention in engineering, looked at effects in an introductory course [1], rural versus urban students [2], gender differences [3], instructional methods [4], and comparisons with traditionally taught students [5]. Others have focused on first-semester students, such as Besterfield-Sacre et al. who developed a model for understanding success of first-semester students [6]. Hutchinson et al. looked at factors affecting first- semester engineering students’ self-efficacy beliefs [7], and Olds and Miller looked at the effects of an integrated first-year curriculum [8]. Felder and Brent [9] and Spurlin et al.[10] focused on the effects of how students learn. What we know is that engineering education has changed, and continues to change [11] for the better due to influences of industry and government constituents [12], accreditation requirements [13], and our increased understanding of student learning of engineering as an academic field. Retention Efforts at NC State: NC State’s college of engineering graduated the second highest number of BS engineers in the USA in 2004. In addition, the college is consistently in the top national tier in enrollment, and graduation of, female and African American engineers. As the flag-ship land grant engineering school in the state, we work very hard at creating opportunities for a broad range of students. Recruitment is only the beginning chapter of the student success story – retention, matriculation and graduation are very important follow-on steps. Over the years the college has been involved with several important retention activities. Below are a sampling of these: 1. SUCCEED [14]: SUCCEED is a National Science Foundation sponsored education coalition of eight southeastern USA engineering colleges who are committed to revitalizing undergraduate engineering education. As a member, NC State’s participation has resulted in the formation of the First Year Engineering Program, re-design of the E101 engineering intro course, development of faculty/TA workshops, mentoring and bridge programs, and a laptop program. All of these efforts ultimately deal with student success. 2. Minority Engineering Programs (MEP) [15]: The NC State MEP activities are targeted at recruiting and retaining students from underrepresented ethnic populations in engineering. Activities include: mentoring and bridge programs, a two-semester student success course, student professional societies (NSBE, AISES, SHPE), and minority visitation events. 3. Women in Engineering Program (WIE) [16]: The WIE Program sponsors activities to enable female engineers success. Activities include sponsorship of SWE, peer mentoring, email mentoring, and women in computer science. 4. Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) [17]: The WISE program at NC State is a multi-college collaboration aimed at increasing the number, and