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15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)

Authors

Ethan E Danahy, Tufts University; Mehek Kunal Vora, Tufts University; Yume Menghe Xu, Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach; William Church

documentation) that students could pick-and-choosefrom as needed. Highlighting the design and creation of these different chatbots, this paper firstdescribes the background technical implementation and then presents details of student use (viausage logs) and implications for further use in first-year engineering contexts.IntroductionMany industries are rapidly changing, and are predicted to continue to change, based on therelease of and widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence interfaces [1].Education is not immune, and educators across all ages are wondering what the impact will be,from good effects (teachers enacting quality pedagogical interventions to students enhancingtheir own leading experiences) to the bad (outsourcing

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15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)

Authors

Benjamin Goldschneider, University of Virginia; Shaylin Williams, University of Virginia; Esther Tian, University of Virginia

, they do contextualize how these methodswere implemented previously.The first mini session explores a simple survey, distributed to students at the beginning of the fallsemester and again at the end of the spring semester. This survey's objective is to provide a high-level overview of how students develop as engineers over their first year. The focus of this minisession is on the process of survey design. Our survey synthesized a variety of existing andvalidated instruments to investigate a broad spectrum of topics: technical and sociotechnicalproficiencies, confidence in performing engineering work, STEM (Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics) identity and belongingness, teamwork and ethical competencies,and major and career planning

Collection

15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)

Authors

Longfei Zhou, Gannon University; Varun K Kasaraneni, Gannon University; Longyan Chen, Gannon University; Ahmed Abuhussein, Gannon University

to maximize the course's impact.In the fall of 2023, Gannon University's School of Engineering and Computing (SEC) launched anew course titled "Introduction to Engineering and Computing" for freshman undergraduatestudents majoring in engineering and computing studies. The newly developed 1-credit course isdivided into four sections, each with up to 25 students, and is led by instructors from variousengineering disciplines, such as environmental, electrical, biomedical, and industrial engineering.While lectures are held jointly for all sections, project sessions and workshops occur in separateclassrooms. The students are primarily from Computer Science (28.3%), Cybersecurity (23.9%),and Biomedical (12%) majors, among others. Projects utilize

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15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)

Authors

Angela Jin Sadlowski, The Johns Hopkins University; Eileen Haase PhD, The Johns Hopkins University; Gyeongtae Sun Moon, The Johns Hopkins University; Meera R Bhat, The Johns Hopkins University

development, peer review, public speaking, and technicalcommunication to support BMED students successfully. Principles such as group design, peerreview, and group development were included to promote core collaboration and cooperationskills between first-year BME students. Also, soft skills such as public speaking, engineeringethics, and technical communication were provided to support LMs in their own keydevelopment as biomedical engineers. Park et al. [1] corroborated positive association betweennon-technical professional skills, such as effective communication and teamwork, andengineering leadership self-efficacy, essential for effective leadership. After the BMED course,many LMs become teaching assistants and these skills are foundational in

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15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)

Authors

Micah Lande, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

longer term, we seek tounderstand how students engage with hands-on activities through making and contextuallypresented design challenges. By incorporating active learning activities and collaborativeprojects early in the course, we aim to foster excitement, encourage collaborative and creativeproblem-solving, and spur curiosity. Our approach to using making as pedagogy involves: 1. Introducing a topic with a simple hands-on activity that can be done in the classroom in 30 minutes, followed by discussion and debriefing. 2. Following up with specific technical content related to a more in-depth activity. 3. Bridging to a more comprehensive design challenge.Project-based and design challenges are effective pedagogical approaches to

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15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)

Authors

Rawle D. Sookwah, University of South Carolina; Robert Petrulis; Edward P Gatzke, University of South Carolina

Tagged Topics

Diversity

activities. However, these supports were reported as infrequently used by survey respondents.Findings from this work will be used to improve first-year students retention efforts such as University 101courses, the college Living and Learning Community, and a First-Generation Student (FGS) summer startprogram.Introduction - Mentorship and scholarship networking provided by STEM Intervention Programs (SIPs)facilitate the academic and social integration of First-Generation Student (FGS) populations [1-3]. FGSchallenges include lower family guidance, financial stressors, unfamiliarity with student support services, andlower belonging [2, 3]. SIP programming addresses these deficits through the provision of resources andprogrammatic integrations

Collection

15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)

Authors

Rui Li, New York University

course framework is described to help with first-year students’ professional development. A common practice of growing professional skill sets isto obtain internship opportunities as the industry is generally looking for applicants who are atintermediate or advanced levels. However, the first-year students generally would have few solidtechnical skills. Therefore, the research question is how to help first-year students gain essentialskills before they apply for internships and become future workforce [1, 2]. Constructivism is thetheory that states that learners can construct knowledge rather than passively absorb informationfrom educators. As people experience the world and reflect on those experiences, they constructtheir own representations

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15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)

Authors

Mohammed El Kihal, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Cassie Wallwey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Juan David Ortega Álvarez, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; James Nathaniel Newcomer, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

resources—like office hours or tutoring time—necessitates efficient time management. Efficient time management, in turn, enables theimplementation of in-depth metacognitive study activities, which helps students generatequestions that target their respective academic trouble spots that can be addressed throughfeedback from the academic success resources. Generating questions can also encourage studentsto overcome avoidance of office hours, which often stems from a fear of asking the wrongquestions or wasting the professor’s time [7]. By integrating these three academic successconcepts (See Figure 1) we expect students to enter a virtuous cycle of experimentation,reflection, and growth. Although the General Engineering advisors spend most of their

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15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)

Authors

David Gray, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Lisa D. McNair, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Atlas Vernier, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Certificate is funded by an NSF Research Traineeship and is administeredby the Virginia Tech Graduate School in spaces provided by the Fralin Institute [1]. For undergraduates, the university’s Pathways program enables students to put togetherelectives that satisfy general education requirements established in university governance. Ifstudents pursue a Pathways minor, they may enroll in a cross-disciplinary collection of coursesbut the minor itself is administered by a sole department. For example, the authors of this articlepreviously designed and implemented the Innovation Pathways Minor with a spine of requiredcourses hosted by three separate colleges and a wide selection of cross-campus electives,administered by the Department of Engineering

Collection

15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)

Authors

Matthew Cavalli, Western Michigan University; Anetra Grice, Western Michigan University

placed in the Preparatory or PREP cohort. Half of the newbeginner population had ENGR 2100 included as a potential cohort class for the Spring 2024semester. Students (including those with low math placement) had the option to select anothercourse in the Essential Studies program, rather than ENGR 2100, if they desired.The student learning outcomes for ENGR 2100 are listed below. 1) Students will develop critical thinking, writing, technology, and research skills. 2) Students will demonstrate competency in accessing WMU resources and services and will make meaningful connections with faculty, staff, student leaders, and peers to facilitate success. 3) Students will understand the requirements to earn their bachelor’s degree in