A Description and Evaluation of a Team-Based Composition Course Integrated into a First-Year Engineering Program

Renee Prymus; Irene B. Mena

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: Multidisciplinary Engineering Division (MULTI) Technical Session 9
Tagged Division: Multidisciplinary Engineering Division (MULTI)
Page Count: 29
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/55359
Download Count: 1

Paper Authors

biography

Renee Prymus University of Pittsburgh

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Renee Prymus is the Director of the First-Year Engineering Composition Program and a Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh.

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biography

Irene B. Mena University of Pittsburgh

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Irene B. Mena has a B.S. and M.S. in industrial engineering, and a Ph.D. in engineering education. She has experience teaching programming, design, entrepreneurship, and sustainability topics, and is the Director of the First-Year Engineering Program at the University of Pittsburgh.

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Abstract

This paper provides a description and evaluation of an English Composition course integrated into a First-Year Engineering Program. ENG XXX is a hybrid course taught at University X, in which some instruction is provided asynchronously and online, and some instruction is provided in person through visits to students’ first-year engineering course during the second semester of students’ first year in engineering. ENG XXX walks students through the process of writing a 6,000-word conference-style research paper which culminates in a conference-style presentation at the end of the academic year, at a conference organized by the First-Year Engineering Program. Students are required to write their research papers in teams of three, so the course also places strong emphasis on teamwork and teamwork skills. This non-traditional, hybrid course serves 450+ students every year. It involves considerable coordination between the English faculty and the engineering faculty, and allows students to experience the importance of communication skills within the context of engineering. Student responses provided as part of a course assignment were used to conduct an initial evaluation of the course and course implementation. At the end of the spring 2024 semester, students answered several reflection questions about their experience in the course, as part of a required course assignment. Three of these questions were selected for analysis: (1) What is one piece of advice you would give to student teams taking this class in the future? Why?; (2) What was the most difficult, challenging, or demanding thing about ENG XXX?; and (3) What was the best thing about ENG XXX? Responses from 450+ students were qualitatively analyzed. The themes that emerged from this data analysis are presented in this paper, and are used as part of the evaluation of this course. This paper will (1) describe the course and course assignments, (2) summarize student responses to the reflection questions listed above, (3) identify, based on students’ responses, what has worked well in the course, and (4) identify, based on students’ responses, ways to improve the course. In addition, recommendations for other faculty interested in implementing similar aspects of this course into their own courses will be provided.

Citation
Format

Prymus, R., & Mena, I. B. (2025, June), A Description and Evaluation of a Team-Based Composition Course Integrated into a First-Year Engineering Program Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/55359

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This paper provides a description and evaluation of an English Composition course integrated into a First-Year Engineering Program. ENG XXX is a hybrid course taught at University X, in which some instruction is provided asynchronously and online, and some instruction is provided in person through visits to students’ first-year engineering course during the second semester of students’ first year in engineering. 
 
ENG XXX walks students through the process of writing a 6,000-word conference-style research paper which culminates in a conference-style presentation at the end of the academic year, at a conference organized by the First-Year Engineering Program. Students are required to write their research papers in teams of three, so the course also places strong emphasis on teamwork and teamwork skills.
 
This non-traditional, hybrid course serves 450+ students every year. It involves considerable coordination between the English faculty and the engineering faculty, and allows students to experience the importance of communication skills within the context of engineering. Student responses provided as part of a course assignment were used to conduct an initial evaluation of the course and course implementation.
 
 At the end of the spring 2024 semester, students answered several reflection questions about their experience in the course, as part of a required course assignment. Three of these questions were selected for analysis: (1) What is one piece of advice you would give to student teams taking this class in the future? Why?; (2) What was the most difficult, challenging, or demanding thing about ENG XXX?; and (3) What was the best thing about ENG XXX? Responses from 450+ students were qualitatively analyzed. The themes that emerged from this data analysis are presented in this paper, and are used as part of the evaluation of this course.
 
This paper will (1) describe the course and course assignments, (2) summarize student responses to the reflection questions listed above, (3) identify, based on students’ responses, what has worked well in the course, and (4) identify, based on students’ responses, ways to improve the course. In addition, recommendations for other faculty interested in implementing similar aspects of this course into their own courses will be provided.

AU  - Renee Prymus
AU  - Irene B. Mena
CY  - Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
DA  - 2025/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - A Description and Evaluation of a Team-Based Composition Course Integrated into a First-Year Engineering Program
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/55359
ER  -