Results of Exit Survey:
Engr1 - Introduction to
Mechanical Engineering
(Fall 1999)
D.L. Hitt
Prepared: January, 2000
Background
As most of you already know, Jay Sullivan and I developed a new curriculum
for the Intro to Mechanical Engineering installment of Engr 1. This new
approach was implemented this past fall with the new freshmen class (~100 or
so students). Entitled “A Manufacturing Process-Based Introduction to
Mechanical Engineering”, our goal was to introduce and expose the new
students to the diversity of subdisciplines within mechanical engineering using
a “learning vehicle” which was tangible to the student- the fabrication of a
simple metal specimen of the type shown below. Two methods of fabrication
(casting and CNC milling) were discussed and presented over the two 50minute contact periods with each group of students.
Background (cont’d)
Through the discussion of these two fabrication methods and associated video
demonstrations, a variety of aspects of solid mechanics, thermo-fluid
mechanics, and manufacturing ideas were able to be presented in context.
It is important to assess the success of this approach in impacting the first-year
students; the contact time, though very limited, remains of great importance in
attracting and/or retaining students in the engineering program. In an attempt
to assess our degree of success, a 10-question “exit survey” was developed and
required of all students.
Before continuing, however, you will probably find it useful to skim through
the slide presentation for the two-class meetings. This can be found on the web
under the “Course Notes” link which is given on the following page. This
online presentation is an exact copy of the notes that were presented in class;
these were supplemented by two short videotaped demonstrations of the
casting and milling processes and a live demonstration of a MTS tension test
for the two specimens which was performed in the Structures Laboratory
during the second class meeting.
Background (cont’d)
After looking at the course notes, you should read over the contents of exit
survey, the link to which is also given below.
Link for Course Notes:
http://prometheus.emba.uvm.edu/engr1/index.html
Link for Exit Survey
http://motted.hawaii.edu/~quizuser/quizzes/darrenhitt/Engr1Survey.html
On the pages to follow, graphs showing the tabulated responses are given for
the seven of the ten questions which had quantitative replies.
#1: Entering into this semester, rate the overall probability of you
choosing to pursue a major in Mechanical Engineering
Overall Probability of pursuing a
Major in Mech. Engr.
8%
20%
very likey
likely
unlikely
42%
30%
uncertain
#2 Rate the future impact of this two-class introduction to mechanical engineering
on your decision-making about which major to pursue
Rate the future impact of this two-class introduction
on your decision-making
23%
some impact
no impact
77%
#3. If your answer to the previous question was that our presentation will make an
impact on your major decision, was it towards Mech. Engr or away from Mech.
Engr? If there was no impact, select "Not Applicable"
Was the impact, if any, of the presentation towards
or away from Mech.Engr.
27%
8%
positive impact,
towards Mech Engr
negative impact, away
from Mech Engr
65%
not applicable
#4. How did the material and descriptions in this class compare with your
preconceived notions about Mechanical Engineering coming into this semester?
How did the material and descriptions in class
compare with your preconceived notions
13%
11%
a lot of surprises
some surprises
no surprises at all
76%
Did you make use of the online slide presentation?
39%
Yes
No
61%
Rate the effectiveness of the video demonstration.
21%
Effective
5%
Not effective
No opinion
74%
Rate the effectiveness of the live tensile test
demonstration.
10%
0%
Effective
Not effective
No opinion
90%
Compilation of Individual Responses
The individual responses to Questions #5, 6 and 10 have been compiled in
report form and can be viewed at the links below.
#5. Summarize briefly what aspect(s) concerning Mechanical Engineering that
you learned that you weren't aware of coming in to this class.
Click Here for the Results
#6. What was the single most interesting thing that you learned in this twoclass presentation?
Click Here for the Results
#7. Please briefly describe any ideas that you might suggest to have improved
your experience. What would you have liked to see or heard about?
Click Here for the Results
Epilogue
• The responses to this survey do provide some food for thought in terms of
future planning for the content, goals and especially format/structure (the
limited contact time) of Engr. It might be appropriate to discuss these
results at a future department meeting.
• The “grading” for the ME component was pass/fail: if the student took
the online exit survey by the stated deadline, they received a
PASS…otherwise they received a FAIL. Perhaps the most interesting
(revealing?) statistic is that only 64 students out of the registered 99
students took this online survey.