Conference Session

Problem Solving and Misconceptions

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mica Hutchison, Northwestern University; Ann McKenna, Northwestern University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

ensure that they differed only in their degree of structure. During their firstencounter with each problem, students were given up to one hour to work on their designsolution. To provide the opportunity for reflection that is true of real-life problem-solvingsituations, students were also asked to revisit each problem several days later; again being givenup to one hour to work. To control for effects that might arise due to the order in whichproblems were solved, half of the participants solved the ill-structured problem followed by thewell-structured problem. The remainder of the participants solved the problems in reverse order.Students’ design solutions were analyzed to determine the degree to which they exhibitedknowledge-application

Conference Session

Faculty Development

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hye Sun You, New York University; Vikram Kapila, New York University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

situated learning perspective has been deemed to offera theoretical rationale for ‘inquiry-based’ and ‘problem solving’ approaches to science teachingand learning, where scaffolding and other forms of social support serve a prominent role in students’learning process.26 A model of instruction employing situated learning theory has been proposedand proven to yield a practical framework for classroom practice.25,27 Ref. 25 suggested that thekey components of this model include: (1) cognitive apprenticeship and coaching; (2)opportunities for multiple practices; (3) collaboration; (4) reflection; and (5) technology. Cognitiveapprenticeship methods allow students to enculturate into authentic practices through socialinteraction. Cognitive

Conference Session

Educational Research and Methods Division Poster Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephanie Cutler, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Kacey Beddoes; Rachel Miriam Vriend Croninger, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

discussion of the advancement of EER. More broadly, identifying such boundaryknowledge can facilitate new understanding of how the social construction of knowledge occursin interdisciplinary fields beyond engineering education. As a first step toward these largerobjectives, we review relevant literature and outline our participants as well as our analytic plan.BackgroundDisciplinary-specific norms reflect a field’s priorities and values, as well as assumptions aboutwhat qualifies as rigorous, trustworthy, or quality scholarship [1]. The ramifications ofdisciplinary normativities include which methodologies are widely endorsed, which questionsare investigated, and what is considered knowledge. As such, these normativities set theboundaries of a

Conference Session

Educational Research and Methods Division Poster Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Tedstone, Clemson University; Karen A. High, Clemson University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

of criticalthinking (Chinn et al. 2014). Both the broad term of critical thinking and the more niche term ofsystems thinking share similar meanings of thoughtful analysis or analytical reasoning, and callto mind King & Kitchener’s Reflective Judgement Model (King & Kitchener, 1994, 2001, 2004),a stepping stone between the cognitive development research started in the 1970s and morerecent epistemological research. This researcher argues that discovering the epistemic beliefs offaculty and the ideas being disseminated to students in their chemical engineering classroomswill prove useful in the field of chemical engineering education as well as related academicfields concerned with systems and critical thinking.TheoryResearch preceding

Conference Session

Qualitative Methodologies

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joachim Walther, University of Georgia; Alice L. Pawley, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Nicki Wendy Sochacka, University of Georgia

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Paper ID #12492Exploring Ethical Validation as a Key Consideration in Interpretive ResearchQualityDr. Joachim Walther, University of Georgia Dr. Walther is an assistant professor of engineering education research at the University of Georgia (UGA). He is a director of the Collaborative Lounge for Understanding Society and Technology through Educational Research (CLUSTER), an interdisciplinary research group with members from engineering, art, educational psychology and social work. His research interests range from the role of empathy in engineering students’ professional formation, the role of reflection in

Conference Session

Data-informed Approaches to Understanding Student Experiences and Outcomes

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Brittany C. Bradford, Rice University; Margaret E. Beier, Rice University; Megan McSpedon, Rice University; Michael Wolf, Rice University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

engineering degree attainment, even controllingfor undergraduate cumulative GPA [12].Expectancy-Value FrameworkBoth individual characteristics and social factors influence STEM trajectories [13]. Using theexpectancy-value achievement model by Eccles and Wigfield [14], we frame thesecharacteristics as part of a cohesive framework designed to reflect the myriad factors thatcontribute to students’ ultimate academic choices. In the expectancy-value framework, threeoverarching factors contribute to educational and career choices: 1) psychological factors, 2)biological factors, and 3) socialization factors. These three components jointly predictachievement behavior and choices (e.g. selection of a major). For the purposes of this paper, wefocus primarily

Conference Session

Engineering Design: Implementation and Evaluation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shanna Daly, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

and summarizing the outcomes of aphenomenography of how design professionals experience design allow for an exampleof what a phenomenography looks like as it goes through the development stage and isanalyzed for outcomes.Research Approach Page 14.1189.2Phenomenography is grounded in the idea that what people remember and aspects onwhich they reflect about concrete experiences are related to the meanings they associatewith a particular aspect of the world, discerning critical components of an experiencefrom non-critical components2. These memories and reflections can be defined asconstituting a person’s awareness. Each person’s awareness is unique

Conference Session

ERM Technical Session 11: Leadership and Collaborations in Engineering

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gemma Henderson, University of Miami; Meagan R. Kendall, University of Texas, El Paso; Ines Basalo, University of Miami; Alexandra Coso Strong, Florida International University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

recognize the existing efforts of educators and fostertheir curricula and scholarship ideas. A series of three workshops were conducted in 2018 byvisiting educators engaged in engineering education at both two and four-year HSIs. Before,during, and after the workshop series, attendees were asked to reflect on three guidingeducational philosophies: intrinsic motivation, students as empowered agents, and designthinking. Thirty-six engineering educators from thirteen HSIs from across the Southern UnitedStates participated in one of two, two-day workshops where attendees prototyped examples ofhow they would implement these philosophies at their home institution. Using these prototypes,participants identified the assets they already had and resources

Conference Session

Student Teams, Groups, and Collaborations

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lori C. Bland, George Mason University; Stephanie Marie Kusano, University of Michigan; Aditya Johri, George Mason University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

students reflect on their experiences within engineering competitions? 2. How do students describe their experiences and understandings of professional and ethical responsibility? 3. What are the key attributes of professional responsibility within an engineering competition?MethodsThis study was primarily a qualitative study. Data were collected from undergraduateengineering students participating in the IAM3D Design challenge, which was a non-curricular engineering competition. The students were required to design and fabricate aremotely-piloted hybrid ground and air vehicle. We used descriptive statistics to addressRQ1. Based on the results, we mapped out the terrain of how students

Conference Session

Works in Progress: Facilitating Student Success and Inclusion

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Saryn R. Goldberg, Hofstra University; Jennifer Rich, Hofstra University; Amy Masnick, Hofstra University; Marie C. Paretti, Virginia Tech; Cassandra J McCall, Virginia Tech; Benjamin David Lutz, Virginia Tech; Lisa D. McNair, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, where she also serves as co-Director of the VT Engineering Communication Center (VTECC) and CATALYST Fellow at the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT). Her research interests include interdisciplinary collaboration, design education, communication studies, identity theory and reflective practice. Projects supported by the National Science Foundation include exploring disciplines as cultures, interdisciplinary pedagogy for pervasive computing design; writing across the curriculum in Statics courses; as well as a CAREER award to explore the use of e-portfolios to promote professional identity and reflective practice. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016

Conference Session

Choice and Persistence in Engineering Education and Careers

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joanna Wolfe, Carnegie Mellon University; Beth A. Powell, Tennessee Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Engineering)The quotations above reflect a common experience for engineering students: norm-referencedgrading (or grading on a curve). Norm-referenced grading has often been linked to problems ofretention in engineering and other STEM fields. In their widely cited study on whyundergraduates leave the sciences, Seymour and Hewitt attribute norm-referenced grading tocreating a competitive atmosphere where students are pitted against one another—an atmospherethat alienates many otherwise capable students[1]. Individual engineering faculty have likewisespoken out against the practice for fostering a competitive atmosphere that discourages studentsfrom developing the collaboration competencies ABET now requires [2, 3]. The popular pressalso links norm

Conference Session

Works in Progress I

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Malini Natarajarathinam, Texas A&M University; Lei Xie, Texas A&M University; Michael Beyerlein, Texas A&M University; Rodney Boehm, Texas A&M University; Jill Zarestky, Colorado State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

executionAccording to Bringle and Hatcher [1], service-learning is defined as a “course-based, creditbearing educational experience in which students (a) participate in an organized service activitythat meets identified community needs, and (b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as togain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and anenhanced sense of personal values and civic responsibility” (p. 112).” Service-learning has beenproven to benefit students in many ways. More specifically, service learning has been found toenhance students’ collaboration skills [2], civic engagement, interpersonal skills [3], [4], andtheir ability to apply knowledge to problem-solving [5].Our service-learning course was

Conference Session

Pedagogy and Learning 1

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Glenn W. Ellis, Smith College; Halimat A. Ipesa-Balogun, Smith College; Yanning Yu, Northwestern University; Yezhezi Zhang, Smith College; Xi Jiang, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

students to reflect upon the effectiveness ofthis approach. The students together proposed that anyone posting an authoritative source mustalso post a summary of the content of the source. Later they continued to improve upon this ideaand soon required anyone posting an authoritative source to process it and include in their notehow the authoritative source could be used to improve the ideas in the group’s discourse.MetadiscourseStudies have shown that when students are engaged in metacognitive activities (e.g., self-reflection, self-explanation, or monitoring), their learning is enhanced. However, metacognitivethinking is not spontaneous. Thus, it is important to incorporate metacognitive support in thedesign of learning environments (Lin, X

Conference Session

ERM Technical Session 8: Survey and Instrument Development

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adurangba Victor Oje, University of Georgia; Nathaniel Hunsu, University of Georgia; Peter H. Carnell, University of Georgia; Nicola W. Sochacka, University of Georgia

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

reflects the ability to bounce back from adversity and unfavorable conditions.Previous studies have shown the importance of resilience to succeed in the workplace, as well asacademic career. Being resilient is particularly significant in engineering programs; encouragingstudents to develop resilience may be a key catalyst for academic improvement and subsequentcareer success.While the literature pertaining to academic resilience is well-developed, there are not manyinstruments that measure the construct. With a focus on engineering students. The current studyexamines the structure validity of the Academic Resilience Scale (ARS -30). Participantsincluded 113 engineering students enrolled in an engineering class who completed an onlinesurvey of the

Conference Session

Student Learning

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Prince, Bucknell University; Margot vigeant, bucknell; Katharyn Nottis, Bucknell University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

development of the instrument. Example 1 below (Mitchell, 2007) is taken from theseries of questions designed to assess students’ understanding of the effect of surfaceproperties on radiation. Page 14.469.6Example 1:Radiation Question: Phase 1 A person walks toward two diffuse, gray surfaces that are maintained at 1000K (see figure below). Surface 1 has an emittance of 0.95. Surface 2 has a reflectance of 0.95. Surface 1 T=1000K Surface 2 Emittance = 0.95 T=1000K Reflectance = 0.95Question 7. Which statement is true? a) The person will feel warmer

Conference Session

Modeling and Problem-Solving

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adam R. Carberry, Arizona State University; Ann F. McKenna, Arizona State University; Robert A. Linsenmeier, Northwestern University; Jennifer Cole, Northwestern University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

relevance of the model to the real world - interpreting and verifying data produced by the modelThe intervention was implemented as the course material in conjunction with the students’ seniorcapstone design work. The general pedagogical approach taken with the activities was to allowthe students to attempt the activities followed by a discussion/lecture about the ideal processes. Page 22.688.3An added reflection component was implemented midway through the course based on instructorfeedback that suggested students were unclear about the purpose of the activities. The activitysimply asked the students to write a short reflection on why the

Conference Session

ERM Technical Session 6: Technology-enhanced Instruction and Assessment

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jessica Watkins, Vanderbilt University; Merredith D. Portsmore, Tufts University; Rebecca D. Swanson, Tufts University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

he’s such a lovely polite person, he’s not going to argue with me, and he hasn’t tested it yet, so he doesn’t have the evidence to counterclaim or whatever. So I would have really stolen from him the opportunity to think that through. (Interview 5)In her reflection, Margaret recalls specific details of Charlie’s latest rocket design. She notes thathe had been attending to a particular problem—how to keep the rocket from leaking out air. Shealso acknowledges her own understanding of the mechanics underlying his design—the weightof the rocket needed to be considered alongside how well it traps air. While she was aware thatCharlie’s design was too heavy to be launched, she let him try out his ideas on his own. Shereasons that if she were to

Conference Session

Working in Teams: ERM Roundtable

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nathan Mentzer, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Andrew Jackson, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Kevin Andrew Richards, Northern Illinois University; Angelika N Zissimopoulos, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Dawn Laux, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

;7, 10 provides exposure to different views, ideas,and perspectives;10 leads to opportunities for negotiation;11 and supports questioning among teammembers;7, 12 among other benefits. Through social interactions with other learners, studentshave an opportunity to learn through reflection on their own experience and benefit from hearingthe experiences of others.13 Learner-learner interactions present an opportunity to learn bothcontent and these “group behavior or group leadership skills” (p. 462)14. According to Verzat,Byrne, and Fayolle15 “in the case of teamwork, doing it rather than listening about how importantit is, is likely to have a more direct impact on student understanding” ( p. 359). Burdett9 surveyed344 senior business students

Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Turns, University of Washington; Jessica Yellin, University of Washington; Yi-Min Huang, University of Washington; Kathleen Gygi, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Page 11.1446.10sections do not explicitly take into account the characteristics of the participants in the ETPPprogram, specifically characteristics that are relevant to their role as learners. In particular, ourdata reflects the activities of adult learners (graduate students and post-docs) who had a range ofprior teaching experiences. Transformative learning theory is a theory with potential to take thisfeature of our situation into account.Transformative learning theory is a theory of learning that stems from adult education and seeksto explain instances where learner has more experience and significant commitment to priorbeliefs and where the learning is a process of reflecting on experience outside of formal learningenvironments (i.e., at

Conference Session

Engineering Student Experiences

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Deborah Tihanyi, University of Toronto; Penny Kinnear, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

idea of possible selvesand identity play to examine this process.Interactive Response and InteractionsFrom our early observations of the students’ use of the portfolios, we could see that identitywork and play occur in a variety of contexts, mediated by individual reflections as well as theresponses and interactions of other individuals. These observations informed our categorizationof “Interactive Response” (IR) as a site of learning mediated by diverse interactions with bothpeople (instructors, peers, friends/family, clients) and symbolic artifacts (e.g., professional codesof ethics). In this conception of IR, we pick up on Hattie and Timperley’s broader notion offeedback as provided by multiple “agent[s]”[8] in response to a particular

Conference Session

ERM Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh; Laura Lund, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

? THE VALUE FOR STUDENTSBased on our experiences, and student surveys and reflections from the students participating inthe course, we found the students top learning experiences were the challenges of functioning ina team environment, the need to learn how to communicate in a technical setting effectively witha client, and the positive feeling they had because of their impact on the community. The factthat their project was part of a service learning course served more to motivate the students andto make them aware of their ability to solve a problem of value to their community, comparedwith the value of the specific methods of engineering analysis or design learned to solve thevarious problems. Of course the principles of the design process

Conference Session

Emerging Issues in Engineering Education Research and Pedagogy

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joachim Walther, University of Queensland; David Radcliffe

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

semester longself-recording followed similar trigger statements. They recorded and reflected on criticallearning events during their time in industry and related these back to their prior learning atuniversity. The self-recording consisted of a weekly submission of one complete account of acritical incident each week for twelve weeks.3.2 Data AnalysisThe focus transcripts were analyzed using the qualitative data analysis tool NVivo7.40-42 The textwas coded on two levels of increasingly abstract interpretation from what Geertz22 calls“experience-near” to “experience-distant concepts”.As illustrated in Figure 1, the level of topic coding included clusters of educational influencesand work situations (for clarity the names of the coding clusters and

Conference Session

Innovative Classroom Techniques

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Lee, University of South Florida; Mernet Larson, University of South Florida; Jack Heller, University of South Florida; Douglas Lunsford, University of South Florida

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

visual and performing artsAbstractEngineering educations routinely use a variety of means to assist in the education process,including all forms of media (books, visual aids, virtual sources, etc.). The incorporation of “realworld” materials and experiences is disappearing. Students actually see the hardware aspects oftheir subject less and less, including (small scale) individual components and (large scale)industrial processes. While this may reflect economic and convenience realities, there is apotential conceptual error being made by instructors (and subsequently adopted by students) thatstudying models, diagrams, illustrations, etc. of engineering objects or processes of interest isequivalent to (and perhaps even superior to) including the

Conference Session

Knowing Our Students II

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Turns, University of Washington; Steve Lappenbusch, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

subset of a larger study employing multipledata collection techniques including written reflections, audio-taped interviews, paper-and-pencilconcept mapping, written surveys, and video-taped think-aloud protocols. For this paper, we useonly the data provided in the weekly written process reflections completed by students. As aresult, the data pertinent to this paper and analysis consist of 60 written weekly processreflections from the six student participants in the two course sections. In each weekly processreflection students responded to the following three questions: 1) how would you describe whatyou have been doing over the past week? 2) what challenges have you encountered?, and 3) whatare you taking away? Though these questions do imply

Conference Session

Engineering Design: Implementation and Evaluation

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cameron Denson, Utah State University; Matt Lammi, Utah State University; Kyungsuk Park, Utah State University; Elizabeth Dansie, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

challenge? 2. What additional understanding can be gained about the study’s methodology and its capacity to measure engineering design thinking from conducting reflective interviews?Literature Foundation The methods and design thinking constructs measured in this study were built on afoundation of previous work which emerged from the University of Washington led by CindyAtman. This study is differentiated from the Washington work in two distinct ways. First, thiswork extended the continuum of novice to expert to include high school students whereasprevious work employing these methods focused specifically on college students and practicingexperts. Second, our study attempted to explore design thinking in dyads

Conference Session

Faculty Development I: Attitudes Towards Teaching

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristen Bethke Wendell, Tufts University; Jessica E. S. Swenson, Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach; Tejaswini S. Dalvi, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

science teaching methods course and volunteered for a follow-up engineeringprofessional development institute, which was the context for this study. Data sources includedvideos of the teachers solving design problems, teachers’ written and oral reflections onengineering teaching experiences, and researcher field notes from the after-school week. Wegenerated thick descriptions of the cases of Ana and Ben and used these to develop conjecturesabout their engineering epistemologies. Following microethnographic methodology andstrategies from discourse analysis, we re-examined transcripts and other data artifacts forconfirming and disconfirming evidence of these conjectures.We found that Ana and Ben framed engineering learning as building knowledge

Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barbara Lovitts, National Academy of Engineering; Norman Fortenberry, National Academy of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Research, Review of Educational Research, Review of Higher Education,Studies in Higher Education).Inclusion CriteriaEach article chosen for inclusion in the database was determined by us to meet all five of thefollowing criteria: 1. It had an educational intervention. 2. The intervention was at the undergraduate level. 3. The intervention was in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field. 4. It discussed an outcome (no matter how anecdotal). 5. The outcome was related to improved learning or performance, retention, or assessment (and not simply student satisfaction).Although we have classified all the articles accepted for inclusion as “research,” this does notnecessarily reflect

Conference Session

Research on Engineering Design Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carla B. Zoltowski, Purdue University, West Lafayette; William C. Oakes, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Monica E Cardella, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

detailed version of the paper13.FindingsAnalysis of the data yielded seven qualitatively different ways in which the students experiencedhuman-centered design within the context of “designing for others”. These different ways ofunderstanding are referred to as categories of description. Each category reflects a qualitatively Page 22.1156.5different way of understanding or experiencing human-centered design. Inclusion in the specificcategory was based on the student designers’ understanding of human-centered design as awhole as reflected in the experiences they shared in their interviews. The students themselvesare not assigned to that category, but

Conference Session

Student Approaches to Problem Solving

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Eric Burkholder, Stanford University; Carl E. Wieman

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

. Here we create and test achemical engineering problem-solving assessment based on this design.Figure 1: Outline of assessment design. In the first stage students are shown a nonfunctional system and asked to identify thecriteria on which the system should be evaluated, requiring them to identify the goals of the problem and reflect on the solution.They are then shown a corrected system that is suboptimal and asked a series of increasingly detailed questions on how they willevaluate it. In the third stage they are asked what information they want to evaluate the system and how to use that information.Finally they are shown an optimized solution and must decide whether or not they will accept the proposed changes based on allthe data they have

Conference Session

The Role of Peers in Promoting Learning and Persistence

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Aparajita Jaiswal, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Joseph A. Lyon, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Viranga Perera, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Alejandra J. Magana, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Ellen Gundlach, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Mark Daniel Ward, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

asked to voluntarily share their experiences in the form of writtenreflections as a part of an open-response survey at the end of each semester. To understand studentexperiences, we conducted a thematic analysis of student reflections after they completed theirfirst semester. We analyzed reflections and we discussed our findings through the lens of thesituated learning theory, specifically addressing its three key tenets: authentic context, socialinteraction, and authentic learning.IntroductionNumerous future jobs will involve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)knowledge. As such, it is important to attract students into STEM fields and to retain them asSTEM majors. Residential Learning Communities (RLCs) can help with both