Student retention in a mechatronics programme in first and second years: Motivating engineers to learn through music and creativity

Author

Carnegie, D.A. ; Kapur, A. ; Gouws, G. ; Watterson, C.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Eng. & Comput. Sci., Victoria Univ. of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

fYear

2014

fDate

9-11 Sept. 2014

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

8

Abstract

It can be difficult to retain modern students in an engineering programme given their demand for instant gratification. To engage students and improve our retention, we exploit a `trickle-down´ approach from our post-graduate research, using topics from sonic engineering as the new focus in a second year data acquisition course. Results have been extremely encouraging - a 99% assessment completion rate and a 100% course pass rate.

Keywords

educational courses; engineering education; further education; mechatronics; assessment completion rate; course pass rate; creativity; engineering program; mechatronics program; music; second year data acquisition course; sonic engineering; student engagement; student retention; trickle-down approach; Data acquisition; Educational institutions; Government; Instruments; Mathematics; Mechatronics; Physics; mechatronics education; mechatronics retention; musical mechatronics;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Research and Education in Mechatronics (REM), 2014 15th International Workshop on

Conference_Location

El Gouna

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/REM.2014.6920223

Filename

6920223