. His research includes undergraduate engineering education with focus on engineering design, problem-based learning, co-curricular involvement and its impact on professional formation, and the role of reflection practices in supporting engineering undergraduates as they transition from student to professional. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2023 Using the CAP model to Equitably Redesign a First-Year Engineering SeminarIntroductionThe student body in higher education keeps changing, making it critical to pay attention to newgenerations' challenges toward achieving their academic goals [1]. Generation Z students are the core ofthe current student population at colleges and
questions will be randomized. Demographic information of students willbe collected without identifying information. Conclusions will be made on the impact ofterminology on student success. This paper is a work-in-progress, and more data is needed tomake the conclusions statistically significant.IntroductionHigher education institutions in Minnesota are putting substantial energy and effort into makingevery classroom diverse [1]. To provide equal opportunity to success in engineering classes forevery member of the classroom, a substantial effort should also go to making higher educationready for the diverse student bodies. Effective communication (both oral and written) plays a keyrole in the success of students, especially in the early years of
majors. Historically, 2nd-year retention in LSU CoE majorshas been 67 percent and for BEE students this is now 77 percent.1. BackgroundSince 1991, the Louisiana State University Summer Scholars Program has been providingincoming, under-represented first-year students with a residential program to transition to collegeacademics and life. The Summer Scholars program is for students the summer before theirfreshmen year, and it provides participants the opportunity to take academic courses for credit,develop leadership skills, and build social and cultural connections. The structured environmentincluded scheduled homework sessions, tutoring sessions, academic counseling, and groupactivities [1]. Faced with the suspension of all in-person programs
such as mechanical andcivil engineering [1]. The tools of the engineer in students’ minds are often closer to a hammer ora wrench rather than a test tube or beaker, and thus their conception of engineering is oftenlimited at best [1]. This can get further complicated by the lack of interdisciplinarity exemplifiedin the engineering classroom. When engineering instruction is scaled at the university level, thereis the potential to lose interdisciplinarity as well as too much emphasis on limited topics relevantto the field of engineering [2]. When this happens, the curriculum may revert to limiting thecurriculum to the most popular images of engineering, fields such as mechanical, civil, andcomputer engineering [1].The goal of this work is to
the habitat. Finally, the smaller groups integrated theircomponents and collaborated to maximize the energy efficiency and performance of the Solar-powered Habitat.The assessments of this project were designed for each level of teamwork: 1) Studentshighlighted their contributions through an Engineering Portfolio. 2) Smaller groups reflected ontheir design and building process by submitting weekly engineering logs and a semester-endposter. Finally, 3) Each group habitat (comprising 5~6 groups) presented its energy-efficienthabitat design in the first-year design expo at the end of the semester. The ongoing datacollection of this effort on project-based, multidisciplinary, multilevel teamwork proved how thisproject design effectively cultivated
different points of entry during thepandemic. Many students reported “loss of connection” and deep feelings of “isolation”associated with the pandemic precautions meant to stop the spread of the virus. Pandemicprecautions taken by the university negatively impacted all students academically and socially tosome extent, but there were also unique challenges for first-year students who entered collegeduring the fall of 2020. We conclude by sharing how pathway programs helped to buffer studentsocial isolation and how students found resilience to overcome social and academic obstacles.IntroductionThe transition from high school to college is a major life event for young adults [1]. In theUnited States approximately 63% of youth who complete high school
, as well as demographic and performance data since 2010. Theycollect much of the data on a survey given to all engineering students during their first semesterintroduction to engineering course. Since 2015, sense of belonging has been included on thissurvey, and with an extensive historical database, we make the comparison of how COVID-19affected first-year students’ sense of belonging in college, as well as exploring the efficacy offreshmen year sense of belonging as a potential predictor of graduation.Research Questions 1. How does sense of belonging in first-year engineering students change over the first semester? 2. Can a short sense of belonging measure given in the first year for engineering students be predictive of
investigate the ways that peer mentorship affectssense of belonging and discipline identity for students from varied matriculation points.IntroductionAs higher education institutions foster increasingly diverse undergraduate populations, it isimperative that student success initiatives purposefully develop students’ sense of belongingwithin an institution, a campus, a peer community, and an academic discipline. Belonging is acritical dimension of student success affecting a student’s degree of academic adjustment,persistence, and post-graduate aspirations, while also contributing to institutional benchmarkslike retention and degree completion [1]. Additionally, the decline in the number of traditional-age college students after 2025, a result of the
Engineering StudentsIntroduction Engineering in the United States is growing stagnant from a lack of change. According toEngineering by the Numbers for the year 2021, many of the top-producing universities forengineers either remained the same from the previous year or, in the case of George Tech (thetop school), graduated fewer students in 2021 than in 2020 [1]. Much of the conversationsurrounding engineering today is much the same as it has been for years. There is not enough“supply,” i.e., engineers, to meet the demand for engineers in today's economy [2],[3]. Manyhave proposed that diversifying engineering can change this narrative and meet the demand forengineers [2],[3]. Much of the literature surrounding engineering
Engineering EducationBackground/MotivationThe research on self-concept has been occupying a significant portion of the studies contributingto the advancement of educational psychology. As much as the topic has gained popularity in thepast decades, it suffered due to the lack of a concrete definition in its early years of advent [1].As interest in it grew, self-concept also gained strength, clarity, and structure. It grew strong as itgained a definition explaining how it might play an important role for a student and for aneducator [1]. Clarity was provided when it was differentiated from some parallel concepts inself-theory and affixing a space for self-concept in an individual’s perceptions, and not a justplaceholder [2]. Structure was added by
performance.A student entering an engineering college in the 1980s may have heard the phrase, “Look to theleft, look to the right, only one of you will become an engineer.” While some of us may haveheard that phrase when entering college, today the aspirational objective should be, “Look to theleft, look to the right, all three of you have the opportunity to graduate as an engineer.”Several factors are creating challenges in meeting this aspirational objective: student preparation,student demographics, and student to college adaptation [1][2][3][4][5].Student preparation is one of the most challenging elements a college can face. Incoming studentpopulation preparation is changing. Over the last 5 years, students that are entering engineeringare less
Department of Computer Science within the School of Engineering at Tufts University. Having received his graduate degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Tufts University, he continues research in the design, implementation, and evaluation of different educational technologies. With particular attention to engaging students in the STEAM content areas, he focuses his investigations on enhancing creativity and innovation, supporting better documentation, and encouraging collaborative learning. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2024 1 Catalyzing Sociotechnical Thinking
declare their major on the entrance to theirfirst year.I. IntroductionThe experiences accumulated by students during their first year in college have a lastingimpact on the rest of their academic lives [1]. The sense of career and institutional belonging,as well as the self-efficacy beliefs of students, have been identified as crucial factors for theirpersistence and success [2] [3]. We argue that both these factors are affected by the awarenessfirst-year students have about their chosen field of study. This is particularly true forinstitutions admitting students into a specific major since their first college year.An assessment of the reasons reported by first- and second-year students in the host institutionfor choosing an engineering major
the data collection informedcritical design decisions at the end of the paper.IntroductionThe transition from high school to university involves significant adjustments, including theacculturation to a new academic environment, sometimes even a change in the language ofinstruction, and social expectations and norms. This transition period is known to define thecritical decisions students may make in subsequent years. Findings from a study led by Katanis[1] found that the expectations students set for their first-year experiences were either partiallyor not met. Students encountered a much heavier workload than expected, in addition to findinguniversity studies uninteresting. In terms of academic progress, more than half of therespondents were
have observed that incoming first-yearstudents often struggle with teamwork, and several instructors from the program attended aworkshop in Summer 2022 led by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) with lengthy experienceleading project-based learning first-year engineering courses. The facilitators of this workshopprovided activities that can be integrated into existing or new courses to help foster equitableteaming practices in a project based learning setting. These tools had previously beenimplemented in a program at WPI and are available in Pfeifer and Stoddard, 2020 [1]; this paperexplores implementations and impact of integrating these equitable teaming tools at a largerscale.The instructors of the first-year engineering course who
Paper ID #38922Impact of Inclusion of Makerspace and Project Types on Student Comfortwith Additive Manufacturing and Three-Dimensional Modeling in First-YearEngineering ProgramDr. Andrew Charles Bartolini, University of Notre Dame Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Notre Dame Coordinator, First-Year Engineering Program, University of Notre DameSimran Moolchandaney, University of Notre Dame Simran Moolchandaney is a class of 2023 undergraduate student at the University of Notre Dame major- ing in Computer Science and minoring in Bioengineering. Outside the classroom, Simran is an NCAA Division 1 Fencer, and an active
scholarship program. The project builds on prior research suggesting thataffective factors including sense of belonging, identity, and self-efficacy play important yet notfully understood roles in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students’academic persistence and successful progression toward careers, and that these factors can proveparticularly influential for individuals from groups that have been historically marginalized inSTEM [1]-[6]. Prior studies conducted as part of this research project have demonstrated impactsof Scholars’ math-related experiences on their developing identities [7] and found that structuresassociated with the scholarship program helped support Scholars’ developing sense of belongingdespite the shift
, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education focuses oneducating future generations to be successful in their professions. A decline in STEMproficiency has been reported in America, leading to significant regression from its position asa global leader in math and science. Debbie Myers, general manager of DiscoveryCommunications in STEM Diversity Symposium concluded: "International comparisons placethe U.S. in the middle of the pack globally." For the United States to achieve a competitiveadvantage, there is a need to encourage young people to develop a passion for learning andspecifically encourage minorities and females to pursue STEM careers [1]. Another report named "Rising above the Gathering Storm" indicated that the U.S. is
plays a key role in addressing global inequity and injustice.Enabling engineers to address complex technological challenges like climate change requires thedevelopment of new skills such as evaluating justice dimensions of engineering andcollaborating with diverse communities [1].Conventional engineering education emphasizes technology-based attributes such as analyticalskill development, technical knowledge, and creative problem solving and leaves little time forstudents to deeply engage with the social implications of their work [2] [3]. However, in recentyears, there has been an increased effort to incorporate social justice into engineering education[4-9]. One method has been to encourage students to take social justice-based electives
off-track) are clustered within 25engineering classes (n=12 on-track, n=13 off-track). The results indicate that: (1) studentbiological sex and outcome expectations are statistically significant predictors of persistenceintentions amongst engineering undergraduates—specifically, students who identify as malehave higher intentions to persist than those who identify as female, and (2) these effects do notdiffer between on-track or off-track students. Additionally, (3) the moderation effect ofbiological sex on self-efficacy is not statistically significant when predicting student engineeringidentity—indicating that neither male nor female students perceive their engineering identity andself-efficacy differently. Finally, the effect of self
currently serving as the chair for the Washington Council on Engineering and Related Technical Education (WCERTE).Anna Fay BookerTran M. PhungMei P. LuuSeth Greendale ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2023 WIP: Development of an Integrated Place-Based Learning Community for First-Year Precalculus Level Engineering StudentsIntroductionStudents from historically marginalized backgrounds – especially low-income students, studentsof color, and/or first generation in college – disproportionately place below Calculus level mathand are often underprepared for direct entrance to an engineering baccalaureate degreecurriculum [1] [2]. This equity gap may have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic
. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2023 Work in Progress: Efficacy of a Peer Mentoring Program for Underrepresented First-Year Students at a Predominantly White InstitutionIntroductionThe structure of higher education in the United States often favors the norms and values ofmajority populations, as well as those with family members who have previously navigated thepostsecondary system [1]. Moreover, the field of engineering represents a discipline in whichpolicies and practices that privilege White men are particularly entrenched [2]. For this and othersocially-constructed reasons, engineering programs tend to retain and graduate Black, Hispanic,and Native American students at disproportionately lower rates than their White peers [3
these areas, creating a challenging environment particularly forunderrepresented engineering students. To combat this issue, a video and activities weredeveloped to emphasize teamwork and inclusion. The video was created by two students whohad taken the course in the previous year. It presented background information, mindful teachingabout inclusion, some discussion of the students’ personal experiences in the course, and anintroduction to the activities. The three activities that were developed were (1) a communicationgame, which allowed students to practice clear and respectful communication, (2) a teamworkand collaboration game, which aimed to show that each member of a team had somethingvaluable to contribute, and (3) a reflection and
activity exposurechallenge through the implementation of new educational science procedural standards thatincorporate engineering thinking such as SEPS (Scientific and Engineering Practices Standards).The challenge is that K-12 (high school focus) is still very siloed, so a difficult roll-out [1], [2].Some colleges are implementing pre-course trainings to help incoming students better preparefor college, such as summer bridge courses and pre-course preparation sessions [3], [4], [5], [6].These tend to focus on a particular topic and typically do not explore interdisciplinary elements[7], [8].Extracurricular student organizations and clubs are assembled to foster student engagement ofspecific topics. These are often student run with limited faculty
area and not general or introductory engineering. These, among otherfactors, make designing an effective introduction to engineering courses challenging. Landis [1]recommends five course objectives for introduction to engineering courses: community building,professional development, academic development, personal development and orientation.Design projects apply to many of these. In community building, the team aspects of numerousprojects help students develop professional skills and build a support network for their collegeexperience. Teaching the engineering design process and engineering’s role in a better society isexcellent professional development. Productive interactions with peers and faculty, as well aslearning to prioritize important
First-Year StudentsIntroductionDiscussion of engineering curriculum development often focuses on technical knowledge andskills needed to prepare students to design engineering solutions. However, the context in whichthese solutions are applied is important as indicated in the first cannon in the National Society ofProfessional Engineers (NSPE) Code of Ethics which states that "engineers shall hold paramountthe safety, health, and welfare of the public" [1]. The focus on preparing students for thetechnical demands of engineering design may lead to them not fully appreciating the societalimpact of engineering solutions. Cech [2] studied the evolution of the interest of students inpublic welfare issues, such as ethical responsibilities
even introduced awalking component to a class [1].As previously noted, walking also has important mental health benefits. These mental healthbenefits include self-esteem, cognitive functioning and a positive mood. One study alsosuggested that there is growing evidence that physical activities such as walking can help preventor treat depression and anxiety, although more research in these areas is still necessary. Thatbeing said, additional research is starting to illustrate being in nature and green-spaces canincrease your well-being. Thus walks on campus in and around nature could have additionalpositive effects for the students [2, 3, 4, 5]. In addition to the mental health benefits, walking hasbeen shown to improve physical health metrics
and money management, and actively participatedin the financial literacy course implemented for the introductory engineering class.IntroductionA solid working knowledge in financial literacy is a critical factor in students’ success, especially forunderrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)disciplines (see examples, [1] thru [4]). This is particularly important with the recent impacts of thepandemic on the national economy, the changing landscape of the job market, as well as the globaleconomic crisis. Students’ financial literacy will help them make sound decisions to succeed professionallyin their career paths. Unfortunately, traditional university curricula do not expose students
peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings and served as a journal reviewer in engineering education, STEM education, and educational psychology. She has also served as a co-PI, an external evaluator, or an advisory board member on several NSF-funded projects.Dr. Cedrick Kwuimy, University of Cincinnati Dr. Kwuimy is currently an Assistant Professor - Educator in the Department of Engineering & COmput- ing Education - CEAS at the University of Cincinnati. He graduated from the University of Yaounde 1 in Cameroon with a focus on applied nonlinear dynamics and applied physics. Prior to joining the Univer- sity of Cincinnati, Dr. Kwuimy was Research Fellow at the African Institute for Mathematical
University to redefinethe way engineering mathematics is taught, with the goal of increasing student retention,motivation and success in engineering.First implemented in 2004, the Wright State Model involves the introduction of a first-yearengineering mathematics course, EGR 101 Introductory Mathematics for EngineeringApplications (now running under semester course number EGR 1010) [1]. Taught byengineering faculty, the EGR 101 course includes lecture, laboratory and recitationcomponents. Using an application-based, hands-on approach, the EGR 101 course addressesonly the salient math topics actually used in the core first and second-year engineering courses.These include the traditional physics, engineering mechanics, electric circuits and