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Reengineering the Institute of Technology
by Laura Walbrink
As it looks toward the next century, the Institute of Technology (IT) hopes to improve undergraduate education through several innovative programs. Despite its strong academic reputation, IT is plagued by low retention and graduation rates, particularly among students of color.
Forty percent of IT's freshman class of 1987 have graduated from IT; an additional 23% have graduated from other colleges within the University. The result is an attrition rate of 30%, a number that is high by comparison with other schools but consistent with the rest of the University. According to Dr. Peter Hudleston, Associate Dean of IT, better advising is necessary to "improve the undergraduate student experience and ensure that students can complete their program in a reasonable amount of time--four years."
Although half of IT students graduate within five years, just 18% of students enrolled in IT's four-year programs actually graduate in four years. The numbers, while alarming at first glance, are somewhat misleading, Dr. Hudleston explained. "There are various reasons why students delay graduation," he said, "not all of which are necessarily bad." He noted that the Twin Cities campus attracts a large population of non-traditional students, many of whom work long hours and consequently take a smaller class load than is needed for timely graduation. Other students participate in co-op programs that defer graduation by a year or more. Because activities that postpone graduation may nonetheless be beneficial to students, IT should be wary of discouraging them, Dr. Hudleston said. With increased advising, however, "I think we should see an improvement in graduation and retention rates."
Another cause for concern within IT is its continued lack of success in attracting, retaining, and graduating students of color. While Asian-American students are well-represented and graduate at the same rate as the rest of IT students, African-American, Hispanic, and Native American students are significantly underrepresented. Dr. Hudleston called recruiting such students "a priority." A large part of the problem, he said, is that "there isn't the cultural support here that they might find in schools with larger numbers of students of color. We have a problem with critical mass, you might say, which is true of most schools in the Upper Midwest. Students of color feel isolated."
"We have to help make the University a friendly environment for students of color. One way is having people to talk to and advise them," Dr. Hudleston said. To achieve this goal, IT began Project Technology Power (PTP) several years ago. Its objective was to work with area high schools to recruit students and provide advice and services to University students of color. Although successful in advising its target students, "it has not been as effective as we would like in terms of recruitment and retention," Dr. Hudleston said.
Dr. Hudleston is an active participant in the University's transition from quarters to semesters. The semester calendar, he said, will begin in fall of 1999. "The Legislature mandated the change to semesters for the unified state university system," he explained. "The University is autonomous, but the Legislature suggested to the 'U' that it might like to do the same. So, the basic reason for the switch to semesters is that the state has pushed us in that direction."
The University's decision to convert to a semester system has been met with mixed reactions, Dr. Hudleston said. "If you poll faculty and students here, you get a split. In terms of intrinsic merit of one or the other, I think it's a toss-up. The advantage of the semester system is that there's more time to develop the theme of the class and for the student to retain material. On the other hand, quarters are more flexible and can be tailored to individual preferences."
He confirmed that a calendar has been decided upon and will be voted on in the Senate next month. "It looks pretty certain that we will follow the Wisconsin system," he said, a logical move considering the number of students who transfer between the Minnesota and Wisconsin systems.
Moving to semesters will be challenging but "should not be a reason why students stay longer than four years," Dr. Hudleston stressed. Under the new system, "most courses will be three credits. A sequence such as the basic calculus, which currently has three four-credit courses, will probably be two four-credit courses. The total number of credits required for graduation will be two-thirds of the number now required." Liberal education classes, he said, are likely to be three credits. "The Senate committee on educational policy has been discussing the structure of the programs. It's still to be set."
Fall 1995 marked the inauguration of a new calculus sequence at the 'U': Math 1351-1352-1353, Calculus: Concepts, Explorations, and Applications. Strikingly different from the traditional basic calculus sequence, the course is taught by an instructional team and relies heavily on group work. The goal of the sequence is to better prepare IT students for later coursework by focusing on engineering and science-based applications.
The course is organized relatively traditionally. It meets for two one-hour lectures, one hour-long recitation, and one two-hour workshop per week. That's where the similarity ends, though, instructors say. The lectures, although large, encourage informal cooperative learning. "Because we're an instructional team, workshop material is connected to the lecture," explained Dr. Tracy Bibelnieks, Academic Director of the University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Project. "Instructors rotate through the workshops and get a feel for how students are handling the material. The lecture is not traditional. Only about ten to twelve minutes of lecture is the instructor talking. Then it's interactive; students work with their neighbor."
"In workshop, we try to do two things: expand upon what was said in the previous lecture and prepare for the next day's lecture," said Dr. Douglas Shaw, workshop coordinator and leader. "We give students practice with preparatory material." In contrast to most recitations, "workshops are very interactive, structured group work. They're not just for questions about homework," Dr. Bibelnieks added.
The textbook used in the course is unusual, approaching topics graphically, numerically, and symbolically. Workshops, said Dr. Shaw, "are really material-dependent. The chapter on integration was very computational, so there was a lot of practice involved. The center of mass topic was very theoretical. Students practiced stacking bricks, which involved the concept of infinite series and the definition of center of mass."
The order in which topics are covered is also unorthodox, instructors note. "In the first quarter, we didn't get to symbolically calculating derivatives until the sixth week of the course. Students didn't get to limits until the fourth week," Dr. Bibelnieks said. Limits are typically among the first topics covered in an introductory calculus course. Instead, "we talked about what a limit is and how to estimate limits numerically, which is what engineers do," Dr. Shaw said. "Estimation in general is used throughout the course."
Using a hands-on, graphical approach allows students to understand more advanced material than that usually covered in beginning calculus courses. "We talk about antiderivatives early, in the first quarter," Dr. Shaw said. "We don't call them integrals, but once students understand what a derivative is, the concept of an antiderivative is intuitive." After students learn about derivatives, "they begin to guess solutions to differential equations. The connection between differential equations and modeling growth comes in very early in the course." As a comparison, differential equations are taught in the sixth quarter of the University's traditional calculus sequence.
Students work in teams to complete labs created by the Geometry Center. The labs are incorporated gradually into the sequence; one is completed during the first course, one during the second, two during the spring, and one every two weeks in the fourth quarter and beyond, Dr. Bibelnieks said. Students solve complex problems and submit professional reports. "The students have done an excellent job on the projects," she said. "They've been enthusiastic and put their hearts into it. We're amazed at the effort they put in and the quality we got out."
Surveys completed by students indicate a positive reception to the course. Rated particularly high are small group work, personal contact with instructors, and small class size. "Lecture attendance is unusually high," Dr. Shaw noted. Less highly ranked are technology and the textbook. "There have been misconceptions about the use of technology. World Wide Web use and graphing calculators are instructionally advanced," but they're not cutting edge to students. "They're not quite as convinced as we are that the applications are good ones," said Dr. Harvey Keynes, Director of Outreach Projects in the mathematics department. "Another issue that's been a little more difficult to deal with is the textbook. We believe in this textbook. It de-emphasizes computation and routine skills, but it has to be read, not looked at. It's written at a different level, and students have a hard time adjusting. It was culture shock, but I think they're getting used to it." Said Dr. Shaw, "I think somewhere in the second quarter they started realizing they're learning a lot."
Having worked with each other frequently, "students in the class know each other well. They like the atmosphere," said Dr. Keynes. Instructors note a tendency for class members to "naturally make decisions together." Dr. Shaw recounted a situation in which students could individually volunteer to switch to another recitation section. Instead of deciding what was in their own best interest, however, "they immediately got together and discussed what to do. They ended up staying together."
"We're doing a big evaluation of the course, tracking students in the course and after the course. We're studying students this year and several years beyond using a comparative pool. Performance and attitudinal elements are being assessed. We're assessing the attitudes of faculty and students toward the course value," Dr. Keynes said.
"The math department is being very cooperative and supportive of this program," he added. "It's a high priority within IT. In the long run, we see this course dealing with half of the IT population."
Dr. Karl Smith, professor of civil engineering, has studied cooperative learning for over 20 years. He has written several papers and books on the subject and conducted seminars and workshops to help other faculty incorporate the teaching method into their courses. Dr. Smith advocates problem-based cooperative learning and technology-based learning. To solve the problems, students first decide what they must learn, then learn the material, and finally apply their knowledge.
Cooperative learning is extremely effective, Dr. Smith explained. "There are two things that most affect learning: the frequency and quality of student-to-student interaction, and the frequency and quality of student-to-faculty interaction." The method, he said, has existed for decades, but "there was a resistance among universities in the '70s to getting students involved, so it shifted to K-12. Now there's renewed interest."
In his early years of teaching, Dr. Smith's dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of his teaching methods led him to investigate other options. "The students didn't seem to learn what I was trying to teach them. I tried to rationalize it by saying to myself that this was high-level material that few people really understood the first time around. Students asked questions that showed their motivation but that I didn't really like: 'Will it be on the final?' and 'What do I have to do to get an A?' So I started exploring."
If used correctly, cooperative learning benefits all students, Dr. Smith said. He typically organizes students randomly, occasionally stratifying by common interest in a subject. "Having a common interest seems to make a difference in the group's performance," he said.
To encourage cooperation among students, he adheres to an absolute grading system. "Grading on a curve is fundamentally incompatible" with cooperative learning, he said, because it fosters competition among students and hinders their willingness to help each other. Nonetheless, "40% of engineering faculty are still using curve grading."
Dr. Smith uses a variety of groups in each course to "allow students to meet and work with as many peers as possible. Changing groups is a little disruptive, but it distributes challenging students." He gives students a lengthy and detailed syllabus at the beginning of a course, which he views as a contract between him and class members.
Extremely capable students benefit by cooperative learning in several ways, Dr. Smith said. "They gain a depth of understanding that they don't get working by themselves. They get appreciated by their peers. They're not viewed as threats, but rather resources. Their effect on the group is almost indescribable--the hard work, skills, and motivation they bring." In addition, "they gain skills for working with people and provide leadership." Struggling students benefit as well, he added. "They receive peer support and have models for motivation. The people you have to watch for are middle students. They can go either way. Success correlates with getting a group of people together to get things done."
The Program for Multiculturalism in Science and Engineering (PROMISE) is addressing one of IT's largest challenges--a lack of diversity--by attracting students of color. Samuel Moore, a Ph.D. candidate in communication technology, is the new director of PROMISE. He plans to increase the pre-college recruiting pool of students, help current students succeed at the University, attract faculty of color, and attract students of color to the University's graduate programs.
Although the Twin Cities have a substantial number of students of color, attracting them to the 'U' is difficult, Moore said. "A lot of Twin Cities students want to go elsewhere. The best students get offers from Harvard, MIT, etc. We want to start competing." Because these students often make their decision based on scholarship offers, "our biggest obstacle is trying to identify enough financial resources. Every program across the country is competing for the same students. Hopefully, the student looks at more than the money, but it's an issue."
"Money," he added, "would start the students coming, but you've got to offer more than that to retain them. You've got to provide them support to get connected to the institution." PROMISE can help students become involved with the University, he said. Retaining students of color depends on "providing support to 17- or 18-year-olds who are facing misconceptions as well as a tough engineering curriculum. Programs like this are supposed to be a base for freshman and sophomore students. By junior and senior years, they should be assimilated into the department culture."
Another obstacle PROMISE faces in attracting students, unique to IT, is that many high school students lack the rigorous prerequisites necessary to enter the engineering curriculum. "Students often receive poor guidance in high school and lack preparation in science and engineering. They weren't encouraged in middle school."
One of the program's biggest challenges will be "showing people that this is not a program that pushes qualified people out for the sake of numbers. People don't want to admit it, but some feel that way." He wants to show that "diversity is an asset that's not taking resources away."
The implications of increasing enrollment of students of color, Moore said, are far-reaching. "Increasing diversity is about the economic security of everyone. They're depending on these students to work and eventually contribute to the US economy. To compete globally, it's in their best interest to increase diversity and produce an educated workforce.
"That's why I think corporations are sticking with diversity. It's good for the bottom line. Diverse backgrounds result in diverse solutions and make businesses more competitive for diverse populations. The smart people aren't looking at it as altruism anymore. It will determine the quality of life for the entire population," Moore said.
