Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FPD) Technical Session 6: Learning by Doing - Contextual and Community-Based Engineering

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rebeka Lynn Yocum, Oregon Institute of Technology; Ashton Danielle Greer, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs Division (FPD)

in the first year of an engineering curriculum reinforcestheir foundational nature. As first-year students enter university with a wide range ofbackgrounds, it can be difficult to create an immersive and engaging introductory experience thatreinforces these foundational skills without relying on a deeper understanding of technicalmaterial. In fact, for some students, introductory projects with roots in highly technical materialmay be alienating, damaging to student confidence, and ultimately detrimental to measures ofacademic success and degree persistence. It has been shown that student confidence in their ownacademic ability is affected by self and peer performance [1],[2] and the first year of a student’suniversity experience impacts

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FPD) Work-in-Progress 4: Pathways, Belonging, and Early Experiences

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cynthia Howard-Reed, Pennsylvania State University; Lauren A Griggs, The Pennsylvania State University; Eduardo Granata Rodriguez, Pennsylvania State University; Enrique D Gomez

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs Division (FPD)

, students collaborated on mini projects that involved hypothesis testing andexperimental design/optimization. To elevate the learning with all course activities, students weregiven an official laboratory notebook to organize their notes and collect data. Students wereasked to write the answer to the following questions in their laboratory notebooks followingevery research encounter: - Why should anyone care about this research? Why is it important? - What are the researchers trying to do? What methods are they using to solve the research problem? What is new and exciting about this approach? - Does this kind of research spark my interest? Why or why not?To ensure students finished the program with the wherewithal to find

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FPD) Work-in-Progress 4: Pathways, Belonging, and Early Experiences

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth A Sanders, The University of Illinois at Chicago; Miiri Kotche, The University of Illinois at Chicago; Houshang Darabi, University of Illinois Chicago

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs Division (FPD)

challenge this narrative [3, p. 5]by elevating low-income students' unique experiences and contributions [4], [5]. Cohort-based programs can support low-income, academically talented students’engineering identity development (through a “community of peers”) [6] and can offer a structurefor more equitable educational experiences [7]. Cohort models can offer students community-building opportunities with peers who share similar experiences. Lewis et al.’s [8] review foundthat peers and role models can support academic belonging by promoting belonging in the socialcontext surrounding educational experiences. Moreover, Hansen et al. [7] found thatunderrepresented STEM students who participated in a cohort-based program with academic, co

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FPD) Technical Session 6: Learning by Doing - Contextual and Community-Based Engineering

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Gray, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Juan David Ortega Álvarez, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs Division (FPD)

batteries.After the in-class activity, teams are tasked with writing a report and creating a presentation thathighlights the contributions of four engineering disciplines to the creation of the object theydisassembled. Prompts guiding this analysis typically include revisiting the function or purposeof the various parts and describing a design choice informed by the expertise of each discipline.The hands-on nature of this activity makes it highly engaging, particularly when student teamshave multiple products to take apart and can choose one for their assignment. However, thelimited variety of items brought to class often leads to certain disciplines being consistentlyselected, which reduces the representation of the full diversity of engineering majors

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FPD) GIFTS Session 2: Foundational Skills in the First-Year Engineering Classroom

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Evans Tang, Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE); Allyson Faith Miller; Olivia Guptill; Clara Elisa Hortua; Aparajita Jaiswal, Purdue University at West Lafayette (PPI); Sakhi Aggrawal, Purdue University at West Lafayette (PPI); Paul J. Thomas

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs Division (FPD)

seniordesign project team struggling with interpersonal conflicts and miscommunication during a peerassessment session, which led to unresolved tensions and stalled progress on their websiteredesign project for a local non-profit. The case highlights challenges in team dynamics,including feedback mismanagement and differing conflict styles. After reading the case studentswere required to write a 300–500-word essay, to analyze the conflict, identify the styles anddynamics involved, and propose strategies for resolution. The goal of the reflection is to assessthe students in terms of their understanding of the module’s concepts and their practicalapplication in resolving conflicts. Students answer the following reflection questions: • Why are things

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FPD) Work-in-Progress 4: Pathways, Belonging, and Early Experiences

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Danielle Grimes, Cornell College; Tyler B George

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs Division (FPD)

(WIP) paper, we propose investigating why students who initiallyindicate interest in STEM are not enrolling in a STEM major using a detailed interview protocoland an analysis of enrollment data.At our small liberal-arts college, students declare a major in their second year. However, in thesummer preceding their arrival they declare academic interests and are matched to advisors in thedisciplines they self-selected. Throughout their first year, students take a common first-yearseminar, a first-year writing course (of their selection), and STEM students take 1-3 introductorySTEM courses. Several years of data shows that a large proportion of the students who initiallyexpressed interest in STEM declare a non-STEM major in their second year. We

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FPD) Technical Session 3: Session 3: Curriculum in Motion - Redesigning the First-Year Experience

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ivan E. Esparragoza, Pennsylvania State University; Abbie Canale, Pennsylvania State University; Erin A Hostetler, The Pennsylvania State University; Bradley J. Sottile, The Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs Division (FPD)

-economic disparities, inadequate K-12 preparation, and social isolation[8-9]. Studies have shown that these students often experience lower self-efficacy and a weakersense of belonging, which can negatively impact their persistence in engineering programs [10-11]. According to researchers, well-structured first-year seminar courses permit students toexperience a better transition from high school to college, understanding the new expectationsand work demands, developing time-management and study skills, particularly for students atrisk [12]. Besides, small group seminars facilitate the interaction with faculty and peers creatinga community of support leading to a better outcome of persistence and performance [13]. First-year seminars offer also an

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FPD) Technical Session 5: Supporting Student Transition

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathryn Hasz; Jessica Lavorata, Carthage College

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs Division (FPD)

design firsthand, fostering a deeperappreciation for the importance of integrating diverse perspectives and disciplines inproblem-solving.This paper describes the redesign of the Introduction to Engineering Design course for Fall 2024.The structure and rationale of the course design is discussed, including the integration of theEOP Framework and an assessment method based on writing engineering memos. Results of anIRB approved (Protocol 2232887-1) survey taken at the beginning and end of the semester arealso included. The goal of the survey was to assess how the students’ understanding of theinterconnected nature of design decisions, especially in terms of how sustainability encompassesmore than just environmental concerns, evolved throughout

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FPD) Work-in-Progress 1: Curriculum Design and Innovative Pedagogy

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David P O'Neill, Northwestern University; Chamille Lescott, Northwestern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs Division (FPD)

lack coordinated, program-leveldevelopment through the middle years of engineering programs. As an initial phase of a largerresearch agenda, this study establishes baseline understanding of first-year design courseinstruction practices and perspectives, which will inform subsequent investigations into howthese professional competencies are maintained and developed throughout the middle years ofthe engineering curriculum.First-year design programs have gained popularity and offer opportunities to introduce studentsto the iterative engineering design process at the beginning of their degree [2]. Such courses areoften transdisciplinary, allowing students to learn from peers with varying interests andperspectives [3]. Often programs integrate

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FPD) Technical Session 6: Learning by Doing - Contextual and Community-Based Engineering

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ben Campbell, Robert Morris University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs Division (FPD)

engineering department’s lab engineerwas able to assist and lend expertise to students. The author would not recommend offering somany different projects at once, ideally limiting the options to 2 or 3 with several groups doingthe same project with their own device. Some of the projects were resource limited and could notbe scaled up to more than a few groups at once. If multiple groups worked on the same project inone class, the instructor could benefit from peer assistance for problem solving. For widespreadadoption to several section there are many logistical issues to be addressed, including space forall of the projects during the semester. Since each instructor differs on experience and interests, a general template for thisframework

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FPD) Technical Session 4: Fostering Belonging - Identity, Self-Efficacy, and Retention

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Theo Landman, University of Michigan; Laura K Alford, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs Division (FPD)

measured in four intervals from project release to project completion.consistently higher than their peers who choose not to attend. While this trend occurs to somedegree in Figure 6 as well, the grades are closer together and the standard deviation is widerdespite the smaller sample size in the Winter semester. There are of course outliers– the scores ofstudents who visited 6-15 times for Fall 2024’s Project 4 experienced a spread that did not followthis trend. Additionally, in both terms it appears that while rare, attendance over 15 times for oneproject did yield higher scores, but that scores at or higher were attainable by students notattending this many times. On all but the first project, the students in the Fall 2024 semester whoattended