First-Year Student Perceptions of Course Skills Utilized in Hands-On Final Project

Nicholas Hawkins; James E. Lewis; Brian Scott Robinson; Angela Thompson

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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: First-Year Programs Division (FPD) Technical Session 9: Hands-On Foundations - Building Confidence, Belonging, and Engagement in First-Year Engineering
Tagged Division: First-Year Programs Division (FPD)
Page Count: 9
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--56576
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/56576
Download Count: 2

Paper Authors

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Nicholas Hawkins University of Louisville orcid.org/0000-0002-2553-9438

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Nick Hawkins is an Assistant Professor in the Engineering Fundamentals Department at the University of Louisville. He received his B.S. (2016), M.Eng. (2017), and Ph.D. (2020) in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Louisville. His res

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James E. Lewis University of Louisville orcid.org/0000-0001-8454-1928

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James E. Lewis, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Engineering Fundamentals in the J. B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville. His primary research focus is Engineering Education and First-Year Programs. He also has interests in cryptography, and parallel and distributed computer systems.

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Brian Scott Robinson University of Louisville

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Brian Robinson is an Associate Professor with the Department of Engineering Fundamentals at the University of Louisville. His primary research focus is in Engineering Education, with highest interest in first-year (and beyond) engineering retention & the effects of value-expectancy theory on student persistence.

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Angela Thompson P.E. University of Louisville

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Dr. Angela Thompson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Fundamentals at the University of Louisville. Dr. Thompson received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Louisville. Her research interests are in biomechanics and engineering education, particularly related to first-year students.

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Abstract

This complete evidence-based practice paper is focused on assessing student perceptions of key course skills that they used while completing a final project for a hands-on makerspace course. At the University of Louisville’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering, all students – regardless of discipline - are required to take a two-sequence introductory course that covers the fundamental concepts of engineering. The second of these courses, Engineering Methods, Tools, & Practice II (ENGR 111), is exclusively taught in a 15,000 square foot makerspace and uses active learning pedagogy to instruct students on the practice of common engineering skills.

The primary skills taught in this course cover: technical writing, 3D modeling, circuitry, programming, engineering design, and teamwork. Students in this course apply these skills throughout the semester in various modules that are specific to that skill. Eventually, near the end of the semester, students utilize these skills in a team Cornerstone project that constitutes their final project of the course. For example, this means that students are given modules specific to the instruction of Arduino programming about midway through the course. Students then program an Arduino to accomplish certain computational tasks in their Cornerstone project.

While the intent of instructors is to evenly include each of these skills in the Cornerstone project, students might perceive certain skills to be more applicable to their project compared to others. At the end of each semester, students are asked to complete a survey regarding the course. Included in the survey is a question about these skills in relation to their Cornerstone project: Which of the fundamental engineering skills practiced in ENGR 111 were most useful in completing your Cornerstone project and why? Approximately 400 students between the Spring 2024 and Summer 2024 semesters responded to this question with insights as to their perceptions of the Cornerstone project and the skills most useful to it.

Preliminary results show interesting observations both in terms of which skills are most discussed by students and why they mentioned those skills. The purpose of this study is to help determine if students are adequately prepared for the skills they need in their Cornerstone project. If students find certain skills to be more applicable but are not addressed sufficiently earlier in the semester, some modules may need modifications.

Citation
Format

Hawkins, N., & Lewis, J. E., & Robinson, B. S., & Thompson, A. (2025, June), First-Year Student Perceptions of Course Skills Utilized in Hands-On Final Project Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . 10.18260/1-2--56576

TY - CPAPER
AB - This complete evidence-based practice paper is focused on assessing student perceptions of key course skills that they used while completing a final project for a hands-on makerspace course. At the University of Louisville’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering, all students – regardless of discipline - are required to take a two-sequence introductory course that covers the fundamental concepts of engineering. The second of these courses, Engineering Methods, Tools, &amp;amp; Practice II (ENGR 111), is exclusively taught in a 15,000 square foot makerspace and uses active learning pedagogy to instruct students on the practice of common engineering skills.

The primary skills taught in this course cover: technical writing, 3D modeling, circuitry, programming, engineering design, and teamwork. Students in this course apply these skills throughout the semester in various modules that are specific to that skill. Eventually, near the end of the semester, students utilize these skills in a team Cornerstone project that constitutes their final project of the course. For example, this means that students are given modules specific to the instruction of Arduino programming about midway through the course. Students then program an Arduino to accomplish certain computational tasks in their Cornerstone project.

While the intent of instructors is to evenly include each of these skills in the Cornerstone project, students might perceive certain skills to be more applicable to their project compared to others. At the end of each semester, students are asked to complete a survey regarding the course. Included in the survey is a question about these skills in relation to their Cornerstone project: Which of the fundamental engineering skills practiced in ENGR 111 were most useful in completing your Cornerstone project and why? Approximately 400 students between the Spring 2024 and Summer 2024 semesters responded to this question with insights as to their perceptions of the Cornerstone project and the skills most useful to it.

Preliminary results show interesting observations both in terms of which skills are most discussed by students and why they mentioned those skills. The purpose of this study is to help determine if students are adequately prepared for the skills they need in their Cornerstone project. If students find certain skills to be more applicable but are not addressed sufficiently earlier in the semester, some modules may need modifications.

AU - Nicholas Hawkins
AU - James E. Lewis
AU - Brian Scott Robinson
AU - Angela Thompson P.E.
CY - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DA - 2025/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - First-Year Student Perceptions of Course Skills Utilized in Hands-On Final Project
UR - https://peer.asee.org/56576
DO - 10.18260/1-2--56576
ER -