Teaching technology success skills with motivation

Many entering freshmen begin college with deficiencies in maths skills. Most of these students also lack the study and organizational skills needed for success in college. A good many of these students at the College of Staten Island (USA) come from the inner-city and have disadvantaged backgrounds. The engineering technologies department of the College of Staten Island has developed an approach to teach these students the skills necessary for success in an organized fashion with a motivational component to intensify the students persistence until success. Two courses are offered for these students. Both are credit bearing but are not part of the TAC/ABET curriculum. One course, Introduction to Electrical and Electronic Technology, consists of three hours of lecture and two hours of lab. It is a survey course of electrical technology and measurements. The second course, Introduction to Electric Circuits, meeting once each week for two hours, is a maths for electrical technology tutorial course. Both courses complement each other. These two introductory courses when taken together provide the entering freshman with the necessary maths and organizational skills along with a strong motivational component to enable the student future success in the electrical field. They are given the opportunity to view themselves in a positive light in a future rewarding career where they can earn a respectable livelihood.