. The intent was to give thema project with some challenge without being overwhelming.First-Year ProjectsWhile capstone projects have been a staple of engineering education for many years, freshmendesign projects have more recently also become ubiquitous [6]. Research has shown that designprojects for first-year engineering students have many benefits, such as improved self-efficacyand increased confidence in professional skills such as teamwork, communication, andleadership [7]. One important benefit is improved retention by exposing students to realengineering early in their college experience, particularly for students who have not yet decidedon their major [8]. Earlier exposure to engineering helps motivate students to select engineeringand
1100 compared to students who did not. Specifically, how did exposure tothis activity affect how students approached their design activity in ENGR 1110 compared to thosewho did not engage in this activity? Similarly, we propose a four-year study that assesses howteams approach their senior design capstone projects. Specifically, we want to compare the designsof students who participated in the Human-Centered Design Challenge in ENGR 1100 and thosewho did not.References[1] Faste, R., The Human Challenge in Engineering Design, J. Engng Ed. Vo. 17, Nos. 4 and 5,pp. 327-331, 2001.[2] "What is Career Readiness?", https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/career-readiness-defined/, accessed 10 December 2024.[3] "Criteria for Accrediting
experiences and their intercultural goals. For this particular study students completed afinal reflection at the end of the semester where they reflected on their teamwork experience ofworking on the capstone project and also set their intercultural goals for the upcoming year. Thereflection data provided insights into how they viewed their teamwork experiences and howthose experiences intersected with their development of personal intercultural competence goals.The reflections were analyzed using two distinct rubrics. For assessing teamwork perceptions ofteam effectiveness (TE) we applied a rubric with categories for adaptability, communication,team cohesion. For evaluating team regulation (TR), we used rubric categories for cognitiveregulation
experiential, entrepreneurial, and innovative learning experiences within the school’s academic curriculum. He is a Woodruff School Teaching Fellow and strives to enhance education by developing classes, workshops, and events focused on implementing hands-on, collaborative learning through solving real-world problems. He directs the operations of the Institute-wide Georgia Tech Capstone Design Expo, which highlights projects created by over 2000 Georgia Tech seniors graduating students annually. He serves as the faculty advisor for the student organization of over 150 student volunteers who all train, staff, and manage the operations of Georgia Tech’s Flowers Invention Studio – one of the nation’s premier volunteer student
includes a design project that is a significant part of the curriculum.The first-year students work in teams to complete the project and present their work in a postersession at the end of the semester, attended by industry partners, engineering alumni, graduateengineering students, faculty, and students’ friends and family.The fourth-year MDE students are taking a year-long capstone course where they complete amore complex design project. As part of this capstone course, the instructor assigns MDEstudents to mentor one or two EDSGN 100 teams. The fourth-year students have not receivedany formal mentor training. In both courses, students follow a general engineering designprocess where they identify the problem and customer needs, specify system
Management Training and Conflict Resolution Practice via Large Language Models,” Future Internet, vol. 16, no. 5, Art. no. 5, May 2024, doi: 10.3390/fi16050177.[11] K. K. Fierke, G. A. Lepp, and K. M. Jones, “Teaching conflict management: An approach to increasing students’ value, confidence, and ability,” Curr. Pharm. Teach. Learn., vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 252–257, Mar. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.cptl.2023.03.005.[12] M. Sollitto and M. Mehrubeoglu, “Incorporating conflict negotiation training in a senior engineering project management (capstone projects i) course,” in 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, 2020.[13] Z. Botha, “Collaboration and Diversity in STEM,” J. South. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., vol. 122, no. 9
issues from each roundtable discussion. The design process taught in GE aligns well with other department’s Engineering approach, but the topics don’t (i.e., discipline-specific topics are not well Design balanced). Engineering Departments value coding instruction regardless of the language, but there Tools are mixed preferences (e.g., MATLAB, Python, MS Excel). Most departments discuss ethics at different points within their programs, Holistic Issues including sophomore seminar, class projects throughout, and capstone projects. Teamwork & Many students continue to struggle with team conflict and visual Communication communication
the option to continue with their team in an optional one- credit hour applied project course to incorporate the application of entrepreneurial mindset and business skills and turn their big idea venture into a working prototype and business model canvas, culminating in an innovation competition. Approximately 200 students continue to the spring semester; they meet in sections of 24 students. • First-year Capstone Competition: Students deliver an elevator pitch at the competition, presenting their working prototype and business model canvas to judges. The winning team advances to a national elevator pitch competition.Key Pedagogical StrategiesThis program employs three key pedagogical strategies, in
statements. This highlights the potential of integrative first-year coursesto foster design problem framing through connections to students' local knowledge andexperiences.MotivationStudies of first-year experiences provide guidance on how such courses support students’ senseof belonging, self-efficacy, and understanding of the work engineers do [1, 2]. The variability inapproaches has provided insight into these effects. For instance, first-year design experiencesappear to have long-lasting impacts, as students who have such experiences are more effectiveteam members in their senior capstone course [3]. Integrative and sociotechnical designexperiences can provide an engaging introduction to engineering and computer science degrees[4]. An
students to refine their designs through progressive testing under increasingly complex conditions.These objectives were implemented in the context of a first-year, introduction to mechanicalengineering course that introduces students to foundational engineering concepts and practicalapplications. The boat design challenge served as the semester’s capstone project, providing apractical framework for applying theories of buoyancy and fluid dynamics.Design Challenge ParametersThe design brief provided students with specific constraints to guide their creativity andproblem-solving efforts. Key parameters included: § Boat Dimensions: Maximum length of 4.5 inches, width of 3 inches, and height of 3.5 inches to ensure compatibility with
College Lecturer for New College and a Senior College Lecturer in Engineering Science for Keble College. He has interests in the formation of engineering identity, and increasing synopticism at a curricular level.Dr. Chamille Lescott, Northwestern University Chamille Lescott is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University. She advises first-year engineering students as a member of the Undergraduate Engineering Office, teaches first-year and capstone-level design coursework, and serves as the Director of the Biomedical Engineering Master’s Program. Her research interests center around academic resource use, metacognition, and the first-year
University Craig Baudendistel has been teaching for 10 years in the Mechanical Engineering department at Wright State University. He has been heavily involved in first year courses focused on retention. This includes courses in applied mathematics, first-year seminar, programming, and computer aided design. Additionally, he advises 2-3 senior capstone groups per year related to SAE competitions or industry partners like GE Aerospace. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2025 Work in Progress: College-Wide First Year Seminar Building the Foundation for Career SuccessAbstractThis Work in Progress paper was motivated by understanding the unique challenges
complete evidence-based practice study was for the instructors, and authors, tobetter understand students’ confidence levels and sense of belonging across demographicsincluding gender, first generation status, ethnicity and class standing in an introductorymechanical design course. Undergraduates (N = 93) enrolled in the course in spring 2024 wereassigned weekly reflection assignments, graded for on-time completion. A subset of items,repeated each week, asked students to rate their ability to apply a set engineering skills beingtaught in the course that included computer-aided design, use of hands-on making tools, abilityto apply engineering theory to a design project, ability to explain design ideas to other students,and ability to apply
leadership roles. She is also on the leadership team for the College of Engineering as Associate Dean for Teaching, Learning and Experiential Education. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2025Fruitful Endeavors: Continuous Peer Feedback to Develop Positive Team DynamicsIntroductionIn a first-year engineering Cornerstone course, teams are formed at the beginning of the term tocollaborate equitably and engage in course projects involving a prototype's design, construction, andprogramming addressing a complex problem. The final project driving this course is open-ended,allowing student teams to determine what hands-on requirements they will choose. The breadth ofoptions available requires decision-making
analyze the RPG results of studentstaking these sections as recommended by a scholar reviewing an earlier draft of this paper.Many of our 1000 intro courses in engineering focus on design projects and hands-on activitiessuch as performing lab experiments in class together in EE 1000 and then collaborativelydocumenting the findings in a formal lab report. There is also a design project where studentsdetermine the best arrangement of solar cells to create a solar panel to particular specificationsfor building a solderable power supply that many students use in their future classes. It has beenoften observed that students continue to use this EE 1000 power supply even into their EE 4800Senior Capstone project course. As phenomenal as this has been
with students on what future careers in their majors of interest could be. It was also suggested that FYS instructors collaborate with graduating students involved in their capstone design projects, creating an opportunity to introduce first-year students to the scope and impact of culminating team design work. 3. Feedback for Continuous Improvement: Instructors were interested in collecting feedback directly from students around their experiencing using the modules. A pre/post module assessment could be considered to track the impact of content delivery and retention. It was recommended to share this feedback within the FYS Community of Practice and broadly across the COE to benefit a wider community
Paper ID #46071WIP: Scaffolding Study Strategies in First-Year EngineeringDr. Chamille Lescott, Northwestern University Chamille Lescott is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University. She advises first-year engineering students as a member of the Undergraduate Engineering Office, teaches first-year and capstone-level design coursework, and serves as the Director of the Biomedical Engineering Master’s Program. Her research interests center around academic resource use, metacognition, and the first-year engineering experience.Ilya Mikhelson
INTERNSHIPSREADING FOR COMPREHENSION| ADVISINGALUMNI PANEL – CAREER READINESSGOAL SETTING AND WRAP UP/END OF THE SEMESTER CELEBRATIONCHART 2 - FALL SEMESTER/YEAR 1 – PROGRAM SESSIONSWELCOME BACK |REFLECTIONS |REVISIT GOAL-SETTING| RESUMES & LINKEDINWHAT IS COMMUNITY-CENTERED SERVICE? | CAPSTONE IMPACT PROJECT PREPADVISING| GETTING PREPARED FOR INTERNSHIPS | MOCK INTERVIEWSCAPSTONE IMPACT PROJECT PRESENTATIONS | GUEST SPEAKERALUMNI PANEL TOPIC: CAREER READINESSGOAL SETTING | WRAP-UP/YEAR-END CELEBRATIONMethodologyUpon receiving approval from the Internal Review Board (IRB), participants were invited tocomplete a consent form to join the preliminary study of the intervention program. Due to thetiming of the study the researchers were not able to collect
early-career studentsthrough a series of Design-Build courses that cover concepts and experiences often reserved foradvanced- or senior-level students in their capstone courses [7, 8]. Courses within the First YearDesign program are developed and taught by students, for students; they span a plethora ofDesign-Build topics designed to bolster skills in areas closer to students’ interests, with Intro toHacking Competitions being one of many fun, interesting, and interactive ways to gain exposureto these topics. By employing students as the teachers (under faculty guidance) in a classroomlimited to 20 learners, hands-on and experiential learning becomes more accessible andinteractive; many learners build relationships that continue outside of the
opportunitiesto deepen and apply knowledge both in and out the classroom [18]. HIEs empower students tolearn and grow through structured critical reflection, collaboration with partners and peers, andconnections that help them define goals across their academic experience [14]. Examples ofHIEs include internships, study abroad programs, capstone design projects and undergraduateresearch [15], [19]. These HIEs can concentrate on a particular area of focus, such as communityleadership, environmental issues, or general well-being [20]. The educational benefits of HIEsare however hindered by a lack of flexibility and accessibility, as they are often one-time eventsor have limited availability within the academic cycles [14], [26]. To this end, we
guess you become more I would say like more involved with the STEM community and it’s almost like a leadership position. I feel like I think they helped me become more outgoing and more. Right now, I'm part of a club called the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and this year I am the vice president.” “I think, because I learned leadership skills, I was able to, I guess, be more confident and more outspoken and more sociable. As my capstone project, I was the client relations manager for my team. I was in charge of communicating with an external client and just being that face for the group. And I felt comfortable doing that, because I was already in a leadership position