Model Eliciting Activities: An In-Class Approach to Improving Interest and Persistence of Women in Engineering

This 8-page paper, provided by the American Society for Engineering Education, describes Model Eliciting Activities (MEA). MEAs create "an environment in which skills beyond mathematical abilities are valued because the focus is not on the use of prescribed equations and algorithms but on the use of a broader spectrum of skills." Four MEAs were implemented in the first year problem solving and computer tools course at Purdue University in fall 2002 to help retain women in the program. This study exams the success of the MEAs.