minor changes within the engineering curriculum, so24 that communicatory and soft skills vital for student future endeavors can be built.2526 Keywords: engineering, group dynamics, problem member, soft skills, group work, STEM, social27 interactions, peer evaluation2829 1.0 Introduction30 Previous research has demonstrated that the degree to which a student absorbs and applies31 knowledge largely depends on the presentation of material in the class1. In consideration of the32 environment in which they will work after college, students are being given more realistic33 problems and case studies that are applicable to future learning, with the utilization of in-class34 projects and group work becoming a staple2. Because of the
2023 ASEE Southeastern Section ConferenceIn addition to misconceptions about the work that engineers do, there may be gaps in understandingwhat skills are important to success in engineering. Kuleshov and Lucietto found that students,university faculty, and industry often have different views of what skills are actually important forsuccess in engineering 6. Often individuals associate engineering with important hard skills suchas physics and math. For example, Denson et al. investigated the perceptions of seven urban Afri-can American students’ towards engineering and found that even students to who didn’t understandwhat engineering was identified math as an important skill 7. However, Kuleshov and Luciettonote that soft skills are
knowledge of high school teachers and students. The correspondingobjectives were similar to the prior work 10: 1. Engage participants in a hands-on engineering experience that leverages their prior STEM knowledge to develop a deeper understanding of STEM concepts applied to engineering design and 3D printing. 2. Increase the pipeline and diversity of students interested in STEM fields relevant to Georgia Southern University and NASA. 3. Enhance participant’s soft skills applied to the presentation of technical content. 4. Leverage participation for the increase in the local community's awareness of NASA related topics and Georgia Southern University STEM education opportunities.Six high school teams were provided with a
through the problem. This process has been shown to increase studentmotivation, allowing them to apply the knowledge learned in engineering classes, in aninteractive environment. Students get a chance to discuss concepts with each other andcollaborate on projects working towards a common goal – this is also representative of a real-world project. Hadim et. al. [4-7] suggest that project-based learning facilitates the developmentof many of the “soft skills” demanded from engineering graduates.Research GoalsThis research project aligns with the university wide Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) initiative.The course makes it clear that the undergraduate research experience provides appropriatescaffolding. In other words, students learn some