Engineering'Pathways'

Dr.'Brandy'Wiegers,'San'Francisco'State'University'

With%Addie%Evans%and%Emiliano%Gomez%��

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of!Engineering!Pathways!

Issue:!How'can'we'a<ract'and'

retain'a'more'diverse'student'body'

in'engineering'programs?'

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Obstacles: !Lack of Shared Culture !

No sense-making!Anti-social!

Long math sequence before calculus !

Antidotes: !Collaboration among faculty !Problem solving workshops !

Community of support!Double up math classes !

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of!Engineering!Pathways!

•  Goal:'Get'students'through'calculus'and'intro'level'science.'

•  Usual'ExpectaFon:'Two'year'process'to'get'through'calculus.'

•  Reality:'Usually'takes'much'longer,'adds'1K2'

years'to'a'“4'year”'degree.''

•  SoluFon:'1'year'to'get'through'prerequisites'for'calculus''

– with'support'via'math!workshops!and!tutoring!

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Cañada College ! Veterans! Veterans Employment Assistance!

Chabot College ! Displaced auto workers, low SES students!

Alameda WIB!

City College of SF! diverse, low SES students!

S.D. Bechtel Jr Foundation!

Saddleback College! diverse, low SES students!

Department of Labor H1B Visa grant!

Santa Ana College ! diverse, low SES students!

Department of Labor H1B Visa grant!

Hands!on!Problem!Solving!

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Students'have'to'match'

the'bo<le'to'the'graph'

using'math.'

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Area'K'BP'Oil'Spill''

Real'World'Problem'Solving'Ten'days'ago,'a'big'underwater'oil'well'from'DBD'Petroleum'

Company'ruptured'near'the'coast'of'Paradise'Island.'They'reported'to'the'public'an'esFmate'of'8000'barrels'per'day'being'discharged'into'the'ocean.'

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Prepare'a'report'for'the'Paradise'Island'officials.''It'should'contain:'

1.  An'esFmate'the'oil'discharge'of'the'DBD'well'into'the'ocean,'in'units'of'barrels'of'oil'per'day.''

2.  An'explanaFon'of'the'calculaFons'and'informaFon'that'leads'to'your'esFmate.'

3.  An'evaluaFon'of'the'DBD'esFmate.'Is'it'reasonably'close'to'your'esFmate?'Is'it'too'low?'Too'high?''

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Real!World!Problem!Solving Estimating areas !

!Rates of change !

Finding relevant information!

!Calculating volume ! Unit conversion - to

m3 to barrels !

Gaps!in!Knowledge!

Unit%Conversions%A'certain'island'has'no'currency,'

'instead'it'has'the'following'exchange'rate:''

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'5'bananas'='2'coconuts' '10'coconuts'='3'seashells''

'5'bananas'='4'mangos ' '2'mangos='1'coconut''

'5'coconuts'='2'fish' ' '15'seashells'='2'snakeskins''

'100'fish'='1'hammock' '10'snakeskins'='1'hammock'

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How!many!bananas!does!it!take!to!!

trade!for!a!hammock?!!!

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Unit!Conversions:'

SoluFons''

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How!many!bananas!does!it!take!to!!

trade!for!a!hammock?!!!

€

1 hammock × 10 snakeskins1 hammock

×15 seashells2 snakeskins

×10 cococnuts3 seashells

×5 bananas2 coconuts

= 625 bananas

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SoluFon'–'Units'&'Big'Numbers'

•  Fermi'CalculaFons:''

– EsFmate'the'total'number'of'sheets'of'8.5'x'11'inch'paper'used'by'all'the'students'at'Chabot'in'one'semester.''

–  If'the'land'area'of'the'earth'were'divided'up'equally'for'each'person'on'the'planet,'about'

how'much'would'you'get?''

– Sea'O<ers'have'about'1'million'hairs'per'square'inch'on'their'body.'How'many'hairs'does'a'Sea'O<er'have'on'its'enFre'body?''

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SoluFon'–'Units'&'Big'Numbers'

UNIT'RELAY'RACE'

(1)!Liquid!Volume'

Given'a'1.76'liquid'Cup'measuring'container,'

pour'1.25'L'of'water'to'within'±0.1'L.''

(2)!Length'

Given!7.2'inches'of'string,'find'length''.92'

x102cm'±'10'cm''

(3)!Area'

Given'7.2'inches'of'string,'find'a'square'space'

with'area''='334'x'10K4m2'±'1'cm2'

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Area'K'BP'Oil'Spill''

Real'World'Problem'Solving'

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What!is!area?!

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Area'K'BP'Oil'Spill''

Real'World'Problem'Solving'

What'is'area?'•  A=Length'*'width'•  is'the'space'of'an'object,'without'the'width'of'it'(base'of'object)'

•  A'quanFty'that'expresses'the'extent'of'a'2D'surface'or'shape'in'the'place.'

•  Measurement'of'the'amount'of'space'

inside'or'used'in'the'object'

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Area'K'BP'Oil'Spill''

Real'World'Problem'Solving'

How'is'"area"'related'to'"volume"?'

•  A'x'height'='width'•  2D'and'3D'difference'•  Area'*'h'='volume'

•  area'has'surface'space,'volume,'includes'

depth'

•  A'*'(x'any'or'2)'='volume'

•  volume'has'depth'while'area'is'space'but'they'

both'tell'you'nor'much'space'something'takes'

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Area'K'BP'Oil'Spill''

Real'World'Problem'Solving'Ten'days'ago,'a'big'underwater'oil'well'from'DBD'Petroleum'

Company'ruptured'near'the'coast'of'Paradise'Island.'They'reported'to'the'public'an'esFmate'of'8000'barrels'per'day'being'discharged'into'the'ocean.'

'

Prepare'a'report'for'the'Paradise'Island'officials.''It'should'contain:'

1.  An'esFmate'the'oil'discharge'of'the'DBD'well'into'the'ocean,'in'units'of'barrels'of'oil'per'day.''

2.  An'explanaFon'of'the'calculaFons'and'informaFon'that'leads'to'your'esFmate.'

3.  An'evaluaFon'of'the'DBD'esFmate.'Is'it'reasonably'close'to'your'esFmate?'Is'it'too'low?'Too'high?''

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2012K2013'Passing'Rates,'pt'1'

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2012O2013!Passing!Rates,!pt!2!

THANK'YOU!'

SFSU'Bridge'to'Engineering'Problem'

Solving'Workshops'Brandy'Wiegers,'bwiegers@sfsu.edu'

Addie'Evans,'adde@sfsu.edu'''

h<p://www.csmesf.org/educators/

engineeringKpathways'

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