Marsik, F. J., & Cameratti-Baeza, C. G., & Levesque, E. M., & Edington, S. (2021, July), Acknowledging Unique Needs: Empowering Student Choice in the Creation of Their Pathway Through a First-year Experience Course  Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--36641

\bibitem{asee_peer_36641}
  Marsik, F. J., \& Cameratti-Baeza, C. G., \& Levesque, E. M., \& Edington, S. (2021, July), \emph{Acknowledging Unique Needs: Empowering Student Choice in the Creation of Their Pathway Through a First-year Experience Course}
  Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference.
  10.18260/1-2--36641

Frank J. Marsik, Claudia G. Cameratti-Baeza, Elizabeth Mann Levesque, and Stacie Edington.  "Acknowledging Unique Needs: Empowering Student Choice in the Creation of Their Pathway Through a First-year Experience Course".  2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference, 2021, July.  ASEE Conferences, 2021.  https://peer.asee.org/36641 Internet.  25 Apr, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_36641}
  Frank J. Marsik, Claudia G. Cameratti-Baeza, Elizabeth Mann Levesque, and Stacie Edington.
  "Acknowledging Unique Needs: Empowering Student Choice in the Creation of Their Pathway Through a First-year Experience Course".
  \emph{2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference, 2021, July}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2021.
  https://peer.asee.org/36641 Internet.  25 Apr, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_36641
author = "Frank J. Marsik, Claudia G. Cameratti-Baeza, Elizabeth Mann Levesque, and Stacie Edington"
title = "Acknowledging Unique Needs: Empowering Student Choice in the Creation of Their Pathway Through a First-year Experience Course"
booktitle = "2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access"
year = "2021"
month = "July"
address = "Virtual Conference"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/36641}
number = {10.18260/1-2--36641}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This complete evidence-based practice paper will discuss the transformation of an introductory engineering elective course, focusing on how the incorporation of choice supports the course learning goals. This analysis will provide insight into how choice may be leveraged within first-year engineering courses to foster self-authorship, decision-making, and the development of a Personal Action Plan.

ENGR 110: Design your Engineering Experience is an introductory, two-credit elective course that serves the first-year engineering class at the University of Michigan.  The design of this introductory course helps foster student autonomy as students explore the breadth of opportunities available to engineers in both their education and careers.  Students learn an engineering design process as a mechanism for making personal and academic decisions, and through a scaffolded course structure, choose exploration and engagement activities aligned with their goals and interests. 

As part of the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching Foundational Course Initiative, ENGR 110 has undergone a course redesign process. A central motivation for this work is the recognition that first-year engineering students enter college with unique questions regarding their choice of engineering majors, co-curricular engagement and future career options. Investing in pedagogical practices that support student autonomy has been associated with positive impacts on student learning. As highlighted by Self-determination theory (SDT), when psychological needs like autonomy, competence, and relatedness are met through different learning activities, they function as a motivational asset, central to the development of a sense of belonging and persistence in engineering programs [1]. The transformation of ENGR 110 is informed both by the needs of first-year engineering students and pedagogical practices designed to foster autonomy. 

The redesigned course addresses three themes: “What is Engineering?”, “Exploring Michigan and Michigan Engineering”, and “Self-Understanding”. Within these themes, students gain exposure to engineering disciplines, engineering contributions to society, the interdisciplinary nature of engineering, engineering as both a technical and social discipline, experiential learning opportunities, personal strengths, ethics, values, social identity, visioning and decision-making. The content that students explore within these themes is intended to encourage the development of self-authorship, a critical foundation to decision-making for first-year students [2]. At the end of the course, students design a Personal Action Plan for their educational experience at the University of Michigan.   

The structure of the course has been substantially revised to align with these themes as part of the Foundational Course Initiative. The course includes two primary structural elements: synchronous, weekly discussion sections and asynchronous, self-paced online modules. This format is designed to provide choice within a well-defined structure and to support the course learning goals, particularly those related to self-authorship, decision-making, and the development of a Personal Action Plan.

The synchronous weekly discussion sections, led by near-peer mentors, provide structured opportunities for students to explore their interests, values, and goals while building a community of peers who are partaking in the same type of exploration. Within this supportive environment, students choose from a wide variety of asynchronous modules to explore the field of engineering. Students first complete a series of mandatory Foundation Modules that introduce students to core course themes. Students then proceed to the Exploration Modules and Engagement Modules. Importantly, students choose which Exploration and Engagement Modules to complete. Through Exploration Modules, students learn about engineering disciplines and experiential learning opportunities within the University of Michigan and the College of Engineering. Engagement Modules invite students to interactively investigate career and educational pathways through experiences such as interviewing faculty and alumni, attending field- and discipline-specific talks, and sitting in on upper-level courses. The course culminates with students writing a Personal Action Plan, in which students synthesize what they have learned by writing a vision for a future career and identifying a potential pathway through the University of Michigan and the College of Engineering aligned with this vision.

We will analyze the extent to which the content and structure of the redesigned course supports the course learning goals, with a particular focus on how choice shapes students’ experience in the course. Data will primarily consist of student responses to pre/post surveys fielded over the course of several semesters. We will also describe the ways in which these data informed course design decisions to contribute to student learning and achievement of course goals.

[1] H. Jang, E. J. Kim and J. Reeve, “Why students become more engaged or more disengaged during the semester: A self-determination theory dual-process model”. Learning and Instruction, vol. 43, pp. 27-38, Jun. 2016. [Online] Available: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.01.002. [Accessed September 16, 2019]. 

[2] M. Baxter Magolda and P. King, Eds. Learning Partnerships: Theory and Models of Practice to Educate for Self-Authorship. Sterling, Va.: Stylus, 2004.

AU  - Frank J. Marsik
AU  - Claudia G. Cameratti-Baeza
AU  - Elizabeth Mann Levesque
AU  - Stacie Edington
CY  - Virtual Conference
DA  - 2021/07/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Acknowledging Unique Needs: Empowering Student Choice in the Creation of Their Pathway Through a First-year Experience Course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/36641
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--36641
ER  -