shaping the technology of tomorrow a repeatable and reproducible approach for improving retention...

Shaping the Technology of Tomorrow

A Repeatable and Reproducible Approach for Improving Retention and Graduation Rates of Underrepresented Minorities and Women in EE

Best Practices Conference

Southern Methodist UniversityFebruary 28-29, 2008Dallas, TX

Rolando Quintana & Mehdi ShadaramUniversity of Texas at San Antonio


Objectives of the Project

1. Increase the number of Hispanics, with an emphasis on Hispanic females in the Electrical Engineering workforce

2. Increase the undergraduate retention rate of Hispanic EE students (supports objective 1)

3. Increase the number of Hispanic students entering the EE discipline with active recruiting strategies (supports objective 1).


TETC Grant (A Holistic Approach)

H.S.

EE 2513

EE 2423

EGR 1303

EE 4813

STA 3533Gatekeeper

Key Course

100

70

53

3939

32

CQI Feedback:Grade

Student EvaluationFaculty Evaluation

Advisory Board Evaluation

Employer SurveyAdvisory Board SurveyFaculty SurveyPerformance on Rubrics

Retention Feedback by Strata:GenderEthnicity


Strategies

• Pre-College ActivitiesScience and Math TeachersStudentsCounselors

• “Just in Time Math” Course• Key Courses

EE 1323 – Intro to EE professionEE 4813 – Senior Design Project

• Gatekeeper CoursesEE 2423 Network AnalysisEE 2513 Logic DesignSTA 3533 Probabilities and Statistics


Strategies

• Gate Keeper Course Intervention– Pre-semester Workshop for Peer Facilitators– Visual Pedagogy

• Freshman Intervention– First and Second Semester Freshman EE

Classes and Laboratories– Visual Pedagogy– Filed Trips– Research Experience

• Pre-College Activities– Teachers Workshop– Offering Double Credit Classes– EE Students Presentations in HS's (Senior

Projects)– Summer Research Camps


NAP

Internet Structure

• a packet passes through many networks!

Tier 1 ISP

Tier 1 ISP

Tier 1 ISP

Tier-2 ISPTier-2 ISP

Tier-2 ISP Tier-2 ISP

Tier-2 ISP

localISPlocal

ISPlocalISP

localISP

localISP Tier 3

ISP

localISP

localISP

localISP

USA

China


Some common sampling rates for sound:

CD’s: 44,100 samples per second

Human speech: 10,000 samples per second

Low quality audio: Less than 6,000-8,000 samples per second

Using Bits to Store Samples: Quantization


Binomial Distribution (STA 3533)

• Binomial Distribution: A Bernoulli trial can result in a success with probability p and a failure with probability q = 1 - p. Then the probability distribution of the binomial random variable X, the number of successes in n independent trials, is

b (x; n, p) = x = 0, 1, 2, . . . , n.

• Note that when n = 3 and p = 1/4 (as in the previous problem), the probability distribution of X, the number of defectives, may be written as x = 0, 1, 2, 3.

,xnxqpx

n

b xx

x x

; , ,31

4

3 1

4

3

4

3

Windows Media Audio/Video file


Summer Activities for HS Students


Summer 2007 Interns

120+ area HS students applied for participating in research laboratories in the College of Engineering

60 students were selected


Summer 2007 HS Students Survey

• 30 Seniors, 25 Juniors, and 5 Sophomores• 75% Female, 77% Underrepresented• After Summer, 90% of all showed interest in

engineering/science• Before Summer, 65% showed interest in

engineering, after summer 83%• 83% of HS graduates applied to at least one

college, majority got accepted• UTSA was in the list of 80% of participants

Interested in Engineering/Science


Teachers Workshop


(Example) A Digital Image

• Matrix: An array of numbers

A =

101134

5610

751214 3 rows and 4 columns

• Elements: A(i,j) , i and j are integers

i denotes the Row index and j denotes the Column index– Examples: A(2,3) = 6, A(1,4) = 7, A(3,4) = 10


k = -50

k = 50

Manipulation of a Digital Image

B(i,j) = A(i,j) + kk = constant

(expressed as a table)

Brightness Mapping


Manipulation of a Digital Image

s > 1

s < 1

s > 1 and k < 0

s < 1 and k > 0

Contrast Mapping


Example: Contrast and Brightness

• Formula: B(i,j) = s • A(i,j) + k• This is easy to do!

Higher contrast

Higher contrast

with lower brightness


Current Activities

• CPS-UTSA-SAISD Agreement (06-07)

Sam Houston HS

• CPS-UTSA-SAISD (Sam Houston HS)-NEISD (Roosevelt HS)-ECISD (East Central HS) 2007-2008

• PREP Program

• MOU with John Jay Science and Engineering Academy

• MOU with NEISD T-STEM Program

• Alamo Texas Educators Association


Results

Data for Students Taking the Old STA 3533 (Before Fall 2006)Class Average Pass Rates (“C” or better)

Mean STDEV

EE 4653 Digital Comm. 72.3% 24.8 71%

EE 4613 Comm. Sys 70.6% 23.1 74%

Data for Students Taking the Revised Visual Pedagogy-Based STA 3533 (Fall 2006 and beyond)

Class Average Pass Rates (“C” or better)

Mean STDEV

EE 4653 Digital Comm. 78.6% 17.3 84%

EE 4613 Comm. Sys 79.1% 15.8 86%


Results: Retention Rates

• Fall 2004 CohortFirst Year CoE Second Year CoE

CE 60.0% 48.0%EE 55.6% 25.9%ME 59.4% 36.2%

• Fall 2005 CohortFirst Year CoE First Year Overall

CE 57.8% 73.3%EE 64.5% 79.0%ME 60% 65.6%


AY CE EE ME Total

06-07 42 98 56 196

05-06 48 65 51 164

04-05 30 83 49 162

03-04 29 80 46 155

02-03 23 61 39 123

01-02 33 47 33 113

00-01 38 46 21 105

Results: BS Degrees Confirmed


The Biggest Challenges

• Disseminating Information to area schools

• Getting faculty to participate (mainly during Summer)

• Getting approvals

• Data collection

• Motivating students

• Identifying the right instructor


QUESTIONS?

shaping the technology of tomorrow a repeatable and reproducible approach for improving retention...

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